Gratified Affair
by smallboxes
Summary: Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

**Gratified Affair**  
Drake/Mindy, Josh/OFC. Prologue, 596 words. 

After her breakup with Josh, it had taken only two boys before Mindy found unusual comfort with Drake.

Her first date had been with Craig Ramirez, and really it was only because he asked her so sweet and shyly one day after their difficult AP Chemistry class. He stuttered over his words and fumbled his books nervously and before Mindy could help herself, the word yes had tumbled out of her mouth and he looked just as surprised as she felt. Sure, she and Josh had_only_ been broken up for a couple weeks; it hurt inside when he bragged in class one day about all the phone numbers he'd been getting (she wasn't _positive_, but she had an icky feeling that Drake and betting were involved somehow). Maybe it was finally time for her to start moving on with her life, seeing other people, and getting over him. That's why they'd broken up in the first place, right?

However, Craig and Mindy's date certainly hadn't gone over as well as she would've liked. As much as Mindy liked Craig, there certainly wasn't that…_spark_ between them. There was the awkward ride in his mom's minivan to the restaurant and when they finally arrived, Craig couldn't stop babbling about the Science Fair and what his entry would be for next year and how he and Eric were definitely going to win something above third place. She nodded and smiled politely while she chewed her lasagna as Craig launched into a story about Niagara Falls in between bites of his spaghetti. He nearly knocked over a glass with his wild gesturing and Mindy thought to herself, _this is what I wanted? This is what I waited for? _

The evening finally came to a grinding halt in front of Mindy's front door where Craig tried to kiss her and ended up breaking it off awkwardly. His cheeks were flushed bright pink and he mumbled something about Eric and a few other things she couldn't understand. It didn't matter anyway because Mrs. Ramirez was honking the car horn and Craig ran off without so much as a goodbye.

A few weeks later Danny Fox, a guy from her history class, caught up with her after a Science Club meeting was over. She accepted partly because Josh was watching (not that it meant anything…they were just _friends _now, honestly), but mostly because Danny was pretty cute and she'd never really seen him outside of school. Their date had gone reasonably better than her experience with Craig, until she had to knee him in the groin. As it turned out, Danny wanted to exchange sex for her class notes and he didn't seem to understand that with Mindy, no meant absolutely _not_, get your hands off you creep.

That's when she let her knee do the talking.

After him, Mindy thought it would be best to take a break from boys. She felt she rushed into her "date" with Craig and Danny was a mistake that she could've said no to. So over the next month, Mindy got to spend quality time with herself for the first time since she was single. She threw herself into her homework, hanging out with her friends, and trying to patch up some kind of friendship with Josh. Hanging out with him wasn't as awkward as it used to be, but she used the time to take each day as it came.

There was no amount of time Mindy spent for herself that could've been prepared for the curveball life was going to throw at her.


	2. Syrup & Speed Racer

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

* * *

Walking out of theater #8, Mindy and her best friend Cathy walked into The Premiere's lobby, which was bustling with people on this particular Friday night. Groups of people chattered noisily as they strolled by the two girls. All of them were geared up to see whatever movie of the week was playing and a pleasant buzz was created in the atmosphere.

"Okay Mindy, I gotta head over to the Smiths' to baby-sit," Cathy said, pulling her jacket on. "Are you sure you don't need a ride home?"

"No, you're going to cut it close as it is," Mindy pointed out, looking at her watch. "I'll just give my parents a call or something. They don't have to leave for my dad's work party for another hour."

"Okay. I'll give you a call tomorrow."

"Bye Cathy, have fun!" Mindy waved as Cathy walked toward the exit. Turning on her heel, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began punching in the numbers to reach her dad. In doing so, she walked over to hang out at the candy counter where she saw Josh. He smiled at her and mouthed "hi"; she gave him a little wave back as her dad's voicemail droned on in her ear. Mindy tried her mom's cell phone and got the same response. As often as they seemed to check up on her, she thought it was pretty ironic that they never seemed to answer _their _phones.

Mindy let out an irritated sigh as she snapped her phone shut and she crossed her slender arms in front of her chest. Josh, who was wiping soda stains off the candy counter, gave her a questioning look.

"Cathy left after the movie because she had to get to her babysitting job and I thought I could get a ride from my parents, but both of them are ignoring their cell phones," Mindy explained, slipping the tiny phone into her jeans pocket. "And you're here working, which rules out asking you for a ride home. So basically, I'm stuck here until one of my parents figures out how to check their voice mail." She paused, letting that thought sink in. "This could take awhile."

"Well I'm here until ten and it's…"Josh said, checking his watch. "Seven now. Why don't you hang out and go see another movie?" As he made the suggestion, he spotted a familiar face coming toward the counter. "Or better yet, Drake could take you home!"

"What? No, Drake_definitely_ doesn't want to do that."

"I don't want to do what?" Drake asked, arriving at the counter with a pretty blonde girl who was gleefully eating some interesting looking popcorn. It appeared to be sticking to her hand and if Mindy wasn't mistaken, she smelled butter and….maple syrup?

"Drake can you do me a favor and take Mindy home? She doesn't have a ride and I don't get off work for another three hours," Josh explained, throwing the rag underneath the counter. "I'd appreciate it."

"Well you're right, I _definitely_ don't want to do that," Drake replied, his eyes looking back and forth between his step-brother and the Creature. Turning to his date, whose fingers were all sticky with popcorn and syrup, he smiled and faced her. "Collette, why don't you go get our seats? I'll be there in just a few minutes."

"Sure! I'll make sure to save some syrup just for you," Collette replied happily as she flounced off toward the theater. Drake checked her out as she walked away, sighed, and then turned to face Josh.

"Dude, I'm on a_date_," Drake said pointedly. "I can't just leave right in the middle of it."

"I'm sure Sticky Fingers won't notice," Josh said sarcastically. "C'mon, Mindy only lives a couple of blocks away."

"Excuse me, do _I_ get a say in this?" Mindy interjected, watching the two brothers argue.

"Mindy, you do _not_ want to wait three hours for me to get off work. You'll be bored out of your mind."

"Three hours hanging out here sounds like a better alternative than being in a car with Speed Racer," she pointed out.

"Oh yeah, that's real rich coming from someone who doesn't even _have_ their license. What's the matter, no driving academy at the loony bin?" Drake shot back as he stuck his hand in his frayed jeans pocket.

"Says the guy who took his driving test instructor to the Inside Out Burger _drive thru_!"

"_Enough_!" Josh exclaimed and the two of them turned to look at him. "Mindy, didn't you mention earlier at school that you wanted to work on the science project Mr. Hall gave you? The one that's worth like half your grade?"

"Well yeah, but –"

"And Drake, you owe me. C'mon, it'll take you more time arguing about this then it will to _actually_ do it."

"I _owe_ you? What for?" Drake asked, flipping his hair so his bangs weren't hanging in his eyes.

"How quickly you forget that I covered for you a couple days ago when Mrs. Hafer gave you _detention_ and Dad wanted you to pick up Megan from oboe practice but he couldn't _find_ you," Josh replied triumphantly. Drake, knowing that he was caught, let out an irritated sigh and narrowed his eyes at Josh.

"C'mon Mindy. If we hurry, I can make it back before _Bacon & Legs_ starts," Drake said and Mindy sighed too, knowing that Josh did have a point.

"Yeah, okay," Mindy said dejectedly, following him toward the exit. She turned and gave a small wave to Josh. "See you later Josh."

"Byeeeee!" Josh called out after them with a goofy grin on his face. He began to deal with the customers wanting popcorn for their movie as Mindy continued to follow Drake out the door.

The cool night air felt good as it swooped upon her face and there was an uncomfortable silence between them as they strolled through the parking lot. They reached the bright yellow Volkswagen and Mindy smiled as she slid in the passenger side, remembering when Josh told her how it was Megan who unfortunately got to pick out their car. Drake put the key in the ignition and she gripped the door handle tightly as he zoomed out of the parking lot. Loud rock music pumped out of the speakers and he adjusted the volume to something above a dull roar.

"Thanks for driving me home," Mindy told him, her eyes darting nervously between him, the ever rising speedometer, and the street that appeared to be flying by.

"What?"

"Thanks for driving me home," she repeated, loud enough for him to hear. "I know Josh kind of made you…but thanks."

"Yeah, you're welcome," he replied, keeping his eyes concentrated on the road. Mindy, nauseated at the speed he insisted on keeping, drew her attention away from the window and watched him instead.

She knew the Volkswagen wasn't even close to his first choice of a car (or Josh's either, for that matter), but still, Drake looked completely natural and at ease behind the wheel. His left hand was draped easily over the wheel while his right hand couldn't decide between fiddling with the radio or tapping out the song's beat with his thumb against his leg. She would occasionally hear him sing a lyric or two under his breath before he flipped the song again and her breath hitched in her throat as he took a curve a little too quickly for her liking. He heard her and shot a quick wicked grin her direction.

"A little nervous there, Crenshaw?"

There was something about his tone that made her feel uneasy, like he enjoyed watching her appear rattled. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he unnerved her, so she ignored his question and his smile and instead looked at the radio. "What's this song playing? It's pretty good."

"No Matter What by Zero Gravity, possibly the best band _ever_," Drake replied enthusiastically, as he usually got when talking about music.

"Really? I've never heard of them."

"What?! You've_never _heard of Zero Gravity?" Drake asked as his eyes widened. "I'll tell Josh to burn a CD for you or something; their stuff is amazing."

"Okay, sure."

They slipped into a somewhat easier silence this time, while the music washed over them. With the sun sliding over the horizon, Mindy snuck another glance at Drake. If she really thought about it with the way that the last vestiges of the sun made his hair glow even more red than usual and the fact that he looked so _relaxed_ just driving along and singing with his radio…he looked _almost_ attractive to her. She let the thought mull over in her head for a moment as Drake pulled into her driveway.

"All right Creature, out of my car. You're probably getting all your cooties and germs all over the upholstery," Drake told her with a slight wrinkle of his nose at the thought. Mindy narrowed her eyes as any thought of his attractiveness escaped her. Just when she thought he could be somewhat of a nice guy, he had to go do something stupid like open his mouth.

"Cooties? Really? And here I was, so proud of you for knowing and using the word upholstery _correctly_," Mindy tossed back as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She exited the car and slammed the door shut before he could reply and she stormed up to her front porch in a huff. She was glad when she heard of the squeal of his tires speed down the street.

--

It was almost ten by the time Drake sauntered back into The Premiere to pick up Josh. He had just dropped Collette off at her house and she was pretty unhappy with him for ditching her before the movie. He tried to explain it as best as he could, but she pouted throughout the movie anyway. Maybe it was for the best; Drake had planned on breaking up with her at the end of the week anyway and it looked like Josh had innocently given him a way out.

Making his way to the candy counter, Drake saw an extremely attractive girl chatting it up with a very pleased looking Josh. It still threw him sometimes that with his brother's newly found breakup, he could score dates with the kind of girls that he did. Not that Josh was anywhere near a seasoned pro like Drake was…but it still surprised him, nonetheless. He reached the counter and caught the tail-end of their conversation as the girl was writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Maybe we can do something this weekend, after I get out of work," Josh was saying as the mystery girl slid the piece of paper to him.

"Yeah, that'd be a lot of fun," she agreed, smiling warmly at him. She glanced up at the overhead clock with her pretty blue eyes as she tucked a piece of her shiny brown hair behind her ear and frowned. "Oh, I gotta go; Gavin's probably waiting for me. I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah, okay," Josh replied, waving as she left. "See ya later."

The two boys stared as she walked out the door; Drake with a look of admiration and Josh with a look of giddy joy. Drake turned to face Josh as he gave him a slight hit on his shoulder.

"Dude! Nice job," he said appreciatively. "Who _is_ that girl?"

"That," Josh said, sticking the phone number in his pants pocket. "Is Gavin's sister, Lisa."

"Wait, Gavin has a sister? And she looks like _that_?"

"I know man; I was just as surprised as you are."

"But she's so _hot_ and Gavin's…not," Drake said bluntly as Josh did a final rubdown with the rag over the counter.

"Still surprised!" Josh agreed. "I was helping out at the ticket counter when she came in and she got to saying how she didn't normally pay because Gavin let her in for free. So I did the same when Helen wasn't looking and after the movie, she came over and we talked for a little bit and that's when you showed up."

"_And_…"

"_And_ after I call her tomorrow, it sounds like we're gonna go out," Josh told him, somewhat shyly spelling out the details. After checking over the counter to make sure everything was in its rightful place, he grabbed his coat off the tiny hook and put his palm out to Drake. "Can I have the keys? I wanna drive."

Drake tossed them over and they made their out of the theater and straight to the car. The late night air had more of a chill to it than earlier and he wished that he'd remembered his jacket. Sliding into the passenger, he watched as Josh started up the car and they quickly took off.

"So how was your date with….," Josh began to ask, but he had trouble with the girl's name. "Uh…Sticky Fingers? Don't look at me like that; I can't keep track of every girl that you date."

"Eh, I don't want to talk about it," Drake replied, sinking further down into his seat as he gazed out the window.

"Okay. How was driving Mindy home? Obviously you made it back in one piece."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Drake said, and he smacked Josh on the shoulder enough to sting him.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Mindy's _not_ your girlfriend anymore," Drake pointed out, emphasizing each word. "Therefore, _I_ shouldn't have to do favors for her. She gave up that right when you guys broke up. End of story."

"Was it really _that_ bad?" Josh asked irritably as he pulled up to a stop light. "I mean, I didn't get any phone call from Mindy with her yelling at me about you like I did when we were dating."

"Well…no," Drake admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. "We talked about Zero Gravity and she thanked me for driving her home."

"Wow, you two_actually_ had a civil conversation together. I'm impressed. And Zero Gravity? You love them!"

"That's not the point Josh."

The light turned green and Josh stepped on the gas as silence filled the tiny car for a few moments. "Yeah, I know. But look, Mindy is my friend now whether you like it or not. I was just trying to do her a favor. If the situation had been reversed, I would've asked her to do the same for you."

Drake let that thought settle in his head as Josh continued driving down the road, getting closer and closer to their house. He was probably making a big deal about nothing, but he didn't really care. He and Mindy had never gotten along on good terms ever since she framed him for putting Mrs. Hafer's car in the classroom back in sophomore year. It just got to him that Josh knew this and he still tried to get the two of them to be friends, despite their constant bickering.

Tonight was weird though, driving Mindy home. For once they had a semi-decent conversation of few words and there was no verbal bloodshed. And okay, he'll admit only to himself that he provoked her when they reached her house only because it felt weird to him to act…_normal_ with her. Drake had gotten comfortable driving her home as she watched him behind the wheel and they had easily slipped into talking about one of his favorite conversation topics. _Something_ had to be said, right?

"Hey Drake? We're home."

--


	3. YoYos & Sweet Talkers

**Author's Notes:** I do not own Drake & Josh, am not making any profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

* * *

The classroom hummed with the kind of sluggish energy that was normal after lunch period was over. Students were restless and wanted to go home, but they still had to endure a few more hours of class before the final bell was rung. Mrs. Hafer took one look at her rambunctious students and swallowed the last of her extra-strength Tylenol pills as the bell rang shrill for class to start.

"All right class, calm down," Mrs. Hafer said as she got up from her desk. "Today I want to discuss a project -"

In the silence that had settled in the room, the opening of the door sounded a lot louder then it should have. Everyone turned their heads to see Drake stroll in casually as the door shut noisily behind him. Mrs. Hafer let out a sigh as he noisily made his way to his desk.

"So nice of you to join us Mr. Parker," she told him, a familiar ice glazing over her words as she spoke to him. "Might I ask why you came to class late _this_ time?"

"Forgot my yo-yo," Drake replied innocently, holding up the sparkly blue toy for all to see. Mrs. Hafer found herself speechless, as often was the case in her least favorite student's presence. Rubbing her temples, she decided it was best to press on.

"As I was saying class, I have a project for you that we'll be working on for the rest of the semester. It counts as 25 of your final grade, so it's very important that you pay attention."

"And that's _my_ cue for naptime," Drake muttered to Josh, who was seated in the desk across the aisle. Josh, always the good student, had given up a long time ago on figuring out how to make his step-brother follow in his ace footsteps.

"You know, maybe Mrs. Hafer wouldn't hate you so much if you actually, oh I don't know, paid _attention_ once in awhile?"

"Way overrated man," Drake whispered back. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and slid down in the uncomfortable metal chair, attempting to achieve some form of rest. He closed his eyes as he half-paid attention to whatever was going on – the birds chirping, the way Eric's pencil tapped rhythmically behind him, Mrs. Hafer droning on as usual.

"You may choose your own author to research and you will create a five minute presentation for the class due one month from now," Mrs. Hafer announced as she paced in the front of the room. "A ten page paper will go along with that presentation detailing the author's life and using the critical analysis we've learned in class in interpreting their work. Does anybody have any questions?"

--

The bell rang and kids spilled out into the hallway from various classrooms, eager that the school day was almost winding down to an end. Drake followed Josh out of the oppressive classroom and yawned loudly, irritated that his nap didn't refresh him as he thought it would. He continued to follow Josh all the way to his locker and Drake leaned against the wall and yawned again as he watched Josh twist the combination lock.

"So man, what'd I miss?"

"Only the biggest project this semester," Josh informed him, trading in one tattered textbook for another. Funny how the school could afford to fix a hole due to Mindy's photon cannon but textbooks that had been updated in the last five years or so were cut from the budget. He sighed as he closed his locker and passed Drake the notebook he'd used to take notes on Mrs. Hafer's project. "It's all in there dude. I don't know what you're going to do this time; it's not like you can skate by on this project. Mrs. Hafer seemed pretty serious."

"Yeah, yeah Mrs. Hafer is serious about a _lot_ of things," Drake responded, looking flippantly over Josh's neat scrawl on the paper. "Besides, she just needs…hey Sarah!" Drake smiled brightly at the petite brunette who breezed by, clearly slowing down in hopes of him noticing her. "We're still on for Saturday, right?"

"I'm counting on it!" Sarah replied, giving him a tiny wave as she disappeared around the corner. Drake stood for a moment, still staring at where his date had been until he felt a whap on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You have the attention span of a fruit fly, you know that?" Josh said in an exasperated tone. He was a little tired of Drake always starting sentences until some pretty girl walked by and stole his attention. Many conversations had gone on to an unfortunate death because of this annoying habit.

"No, a fruit fly actually has to _think_ before moving on," Mindy joined in, sidling up to Josh while holding her books on her side. "Hey Josh. Mr. Roland wanted me to give this to you; he said you left it in the lab after your class this morning." She passed him a blue lab exam book and Josh breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it.

"Thanks Mindy, I didn't even know it was missing!" Josh eagerly stuffed the book into his backpack.

Mindy casually gave Drake a once over while he looked at her, a scowl fixed on his face. "What's the matter, still trying to think of a comeback?"

"Brown-noser."

"Underachiever."

"Wicked witch."

"Incompetent goofball!"

"Hey, I am _very_ competent at being a goofball!" Drake said indignantly, adjusting the backpack strap on his shoulder. He flicked his head to move the hair out of his eyes and he saw Mindy looking back at him like a cat that had finally caught her mouse.

"As always Drake, you manage to get my point all on your own," she said coolly, giving him a smirk. "See you at Science Club Josh." Mindy sauntered off, leaving the boys alone as the warning bell went off for the next class to begin.

"Man, why does _she_ always get the last word?" Drake asked redundantly, scrunching his nose in disapproval. He fell into step beside Josh as they made their way to their next class. "I'm so glad you guys broke up when you did; I can't _stand_ that girl."

--

The rest of the week followed slowly after that day, as though it were crawling toward the weekend. But finally, _finally_ Friday had come and Drake's contagious energy had even rubbed off on Josh a little. On Wednesday, Drake had managed to convince the other boy to grow some nerve and give Gavin's sister a call and Josh was still reeling in the fantastic yes he'd received upon nervously asking Lisa for a date.

Now it was Friday night and Josh was standing in the mirror, frowning. He'd changed his shirt at least three times but he still didn't feel right. Looking down at his feet, he was wearing one loafer and one sneaker and couldn't make up his mind still when he heard the bedroom bang open.

"Hey Drake, which shoe -" Josh started, but he turned his head and saw it was Megan making her way down the stairs. She plopped down comfortably on the couch and used the remote to turn the television on. "You're not Drake."

"No; Boob Number 2 is chatting up his date on the phone downstairs," Megan replied as Josh made his way down the stairs as well. "Now quiet, it's TV time."

"Hang on, maybe I could use your help," Josh said, grabbing the remote and muting the sound on the television. She glared at him and he had a feeling he would pay for that later. "Which shoe looks better - the loafer or the sneaker?"

"Well that all depends," Megan started, giving him a once-over. "You're not wearing _that_ shirt, are you?" Her face lit up with a smile of satisfaction as Josh groaned and made his way back up the stairs toward his bureau, already in disarray from previous clothing choices. She settled back into the couch and un-muted the TV, eager to watch her show and annoy Josh at the same time.

Drake ambled into the room a few minutes later to see Megan zoned in on the TV while Josh was working himself into an almost blind panic while he searched the dresser drawers and threw various shirts on to his bed.

"Josh, what happened to all your clothes?" Drake asked, and then began to remember the importance of the night. "Ohhhh, it's your big date with Gavin's sister, right?"

"Ya _think_?!" Josh said, his voice tinged with sarcasm and mild hysteria. "I just need a shirt! _One_ shirt! Why is this so _hard_?"

"Josh, calm down," Drake said, taking the opportunity to sit on a square of his brother's bed that wasn't covered in clothing. "You're making a way bigger deal out of this than you need to." Josh turned to face Drake and realized that surprisingly, his brother was making sense for once.

"Maybe you're right."

"No, I _am_ right," Drake pointed out, propping himself on his elbows as he took a look at Josh's outfit. "That shirt? Really?"

In a flash, the boys were a tangle of limbs as Josh pounced on Drake and the two began to wrestle. Screaming, yelling, pinching, slapping – everything was fair game as Josh worked out his frustration and Drake just tried to shield his face from any damage before his own date that night. Their fighting would've continued on, but the two boys immediately stopped when they heard a shrill, piercing noise.

"_Yo boobs!_" Megan exclaimed as a whistle on a pink plaid lanyard swung from her tiny hand. "Do I have to come over and separate you two?"

"Dude, when did she get a whistle?" Josh whispered as they quickly separated from each other, eager to avoid whatever punishment their evil little sister had in mind for them. Drake shrugged and shook his head as he idly began looking through some of the shirts on the large bed.

"Here, wear this one," Drake suggested, throwing a dark blue long sleeved shirt at his chest. He glanced over at the clock next to his bed on the loft and widened his eyes when he saw the time. "Hey man, I gotta get going. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Josh replied, pushing his head through the neck hole of his fourth shirt of the night. "Wait, you're not gonna change? You wore that to school."

"Yeah, but I'm _Drake_," the other boy reminded him and Josh rolled his eyes as Drake made his way toward the door. "See you guys later."

Josh took one last glance at himself in the mirror and finally deemed himself acceptable for his date. The butterflies in his stomach were fluttering at full force by this point and he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to eat at the restaurant that he and Lisa had planned on. Giving his hair a final swipe with a hairbrush, Josh made his way toward the door too.

"Bye Megs."

"Bye boob."

When Josh left, the room was filled only with the sounds of the television, but it didn't take long before Megan heard him enter the room again, sighing.

"You know, you could've reminded me about the shoes."

Megan turned and grinned at her flustered step-brother, who kicked off the loafer and began to look for his other sneaker under the bed.

"Yeah, but it's more fun for me this way."

--

The night was balmy with an occasional cool breeze as Josh and Lisa began their stroll along the boardwalk not far from B.F. Wang's. Dinner had gone as smooth as Josh could've hoped for; he did manage to spill soy sauce, but it spread quickly over the plastic table and not on anybody's clothes, thank goodness. Lisa had even laughed, charmed at how he had been so bashful and clumsy about the incident. As Josh had cleaned up the mess, he felt the tension release in his tightened shoulder muscles and he was able to enjoy dinner a little bit more thoroughly. What was even better was that Lisa seemed to be enjoying herself too.

The sun was sinking low into the ocean as it stained the sky with vivid pinks and deep oranges. The two of them fell into a steady pattern with their echoing footsteps and a quiet settled over them as they heard the ocean lap up against the damp sand.

"So tell me about your family," Lisa was saying, turning her brown eyes on him. "What are they like?"

"Well...my parents got divorced when I was really little," Josh began, his gaze flickering from her to the ocean and back again. "Then in ninth grade, my dad married my step-mom and she turned out to be completely amazing. That Cinderella story can be pretty misleading, let me tell you." Lisa smiled and waited for him to continue as he breathed in the salty air. "When they got married, Mom already had two kids; Drake, who's my age, and Megan who is only a few years younger."

"Like presto - instant family," Lisa nodded understandingly. "Was that hard? Coming together like that?"

"It was at first. Drake was..._is_ one of the most popular kids at our school and I was just a nerdy kid who liked magic tricks," Josh said, grinning as he realized how far they had come since those early days. "But now...well, we've got each other's backs. Best friends, brothers; whatever you wanna call it, we're there for each other."

"Oh, that's sweet," Lisa replied, using her finger to twist around a piece of her long, dark chestnut colored hair. "I wish Gavin and I were like that, but we're _complete_ opposites."

"Yeah...you two _are_ a little different from each other," Josh said, only slightly lying through his teeth. Lisa laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"That's an understatement! If I remember right, your mouth dropped wide open when I told you at The Premiere how I knew Gavin," Lisa teased, giggling as she did so. He smiled at her laughter and nodded in agreement.

"All right, I'll admit to being pretty surprised," Josh told her. He bravely slipped his palm into her tiny one and squeezed lightly. "But you know, I think most of my surprise was just carrying over from such a pretty girl like you sticking around to talk to me."

"Ooh, smooth Josh, very smooth," she said, raising her eyebrows as she eyed him up and down. Their arms brushed against one another as they continued to walk, hand in hand. "I bet you sweet talk girls like this _all_ the time."

Josh had to blush at the thought of him being anything near a ladies' man. Certainly over the years if a person who knew Josh and had to describe him, the idea that he was good with girls would almost indefinitely never cross anyone's mind.

"No, no, no," Josh replied, his cheeks tinged with a pink that rivaled the quickly darkening sky. "I had a great teacher, but I'm not very good at this sort of thing." Memories of Drake's "cool lessons" gone awry floated in his head until he saw a visible shiver run down Lisa's arm. "Oh, here Lisa, take my jacket."

Before she could even think to politely protest his offer, Josh's cozy jean jacket slid over her arms and she was grateful for the instant warmth. She looked up into his shining blue eyes and his dimpled grin as she took his soft hand back into her own.

"Not very good, eh?" Lisa asked with only a slight touch of sarcasm. She squeezed tighter and rested her head on his warm forearm. "I think you're doing better than you think."

--

Drake was feeling pretty good about himself the next morning. The date he'd been on the night before with Sarah had gone _extremely_ well and he was supposed to see her later that afternoon. The thought made him hum a song to himself as he sauntered down the hallway and into his bedroom. He had just gotten out of the shower and was in the process of pulling a green t-shirt over his head when the doorbell rang. Josh was in the bathroom now, but Drake figured someone else would get the door. He took his sweet time putting on his favorite pair of faded blue jeans and the doorbell rang once more. Realizing that he and Josh must've been the only ones home, Drake took off to the staircase and reached the door upon the fourth ring of the doorbell.

The door swung open and Drake's face immediately fell when he saw who was on the other side. "Oh. It's just _you_."

"I'd say that you have the manners of a monkey, but that'd be rude to them," Mindy replied, tightening her grip on the shoulder strap of her backpack. Her look of irritation matched his as Drake rolled his eyes.

"Josh is in the bathroom," Drake told her and walked away from the door, as if that was a roundabout way of inviting her in. Mindy sighed and followed him, gently closing the door behind her.

"Actually, I'm not here to see Josh."

"Then what are you here for?"

Mindy paused and pushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear, hesitant in her answer. But she let the words fall out of her mouth as fast as she could.

"I'm here to see you."

--


	4. Uneasiness

**Author's Notes**: I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (you awesome reviewers are what keep this story going!). Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

"You're here to see me?" Drake asked incredulously. Mindy nodded in agreement as she set her backpack down on the oak dining room table. "What for?"

"Apparently, you made an appointment with the tutoring program at school," she explained, brushing her hair behind her ear. Her silver stud earring shined in the sunlight from the window for a second, momentarily distracting him. "You know Drake I'm sort of surprised at you. But you know, they all say that admitting you have a problem is the first step."

"Problem? _Tutoring_ program?" he asked, confused by her words. She nodded again as she unzipped her backpack and began to unload its contents on the table. He recognized the English textbook he was supposed to use for Mrs. Hafer's class and the dimming light bulb in his head started to grow brighter. "_JOOOOOOOOSH_!"

"What, what, _what_? What's wrong?" Josh said, half-asking and half-yelling as he raced down the wooden staircase. Seeing there was no immediate problem as he ran the living room, he could only sigh. "Why is everything so _urgent_ with you?"

"This _is_ urgent!" Drake insisted as he pointed at Mindy. "_She_ claims she's here to tutor me and I can think of only _one_ person who would take the time out to hire one _for_ me."

"You know dude, you should be _grateful_ that I'm looking out for you - "

"I can't believe you would go behind my back and hire the _creature_ - "

"Mrs. Hafer is on the brink of failing you as it is. I _know _you don't want to repeat her class - "

"I'll get by, I _always_ do!"

Mindy listened to their words overlapping each other and brought her hand to her temple as she began to rub away the headache that was about to form. She wanted to be here about as much as Drake wanted her here, but she had a responsibility. Or at least she would if she could get her point across to them any time soon.

"_Boys_!" Mindy exclaimed as she put a hand on each other shoulders. She could tell they were coming dangerously close to wrestling and she knew that wouldn't solve anything no matter how many times they had tried to convince her otherwise in the past. "Honestly, how can you hear yourselves over each other?" They didn't answer her rhetorical question; they could only glare at each other as a quiet, angry steam started to build between them. She decided to press on anyway. "Josh, _you_ called the tutoring center?"

"Yeah," Josh answered, crossing his arms over his blue striped button down shirt. "Mrs. Hafer's English project is worth almost half our grade and Drake needs help whether he _admits_ it or not." He pointed a look toward his step-brother, who could only scoff and roll his eyes.

"I'll be _fine_," Drake assured them as he spun on his heel. He walked around to the front of the couch and plopped down as he brought his feet up to rest on the coffee table's clean surface. It became Josh's turn to roll his own blue eyes as he moved to the front of the couch to be able to face Drake.

"Yeah, whatever dude. Look, I called the tutoring center because I know I can't bail you out this time. I have to work on my own project and school _and_ Helen said there was a chance of being able to increase my hours at The Premiere." There was a pause as he let that reasoning sink in. "I was just trying to look out for you Drake."

Drake sighed as he looked up at Josh's face. "Okay man, I can appreciate that. But Mindy? Of all the tutors you had to pick, you chose _her_?"

"He didn't _choose_ me," Mindy interrupted with an ice around the edges of her words. "I was _assigned_ to work with you."

"I'm kind of shocked Mindy," Josh told her as he sat down in the beige armchair. "A couple months ago it was all I could do to get you guys in the same room together."

"As of right now, I have a perfect record in helping the students that I tutor," she explained as she leaned her waist against the back of the couch. "Everyone I've worked with has been able to raise their grade up at least one full letter after I'm done with them. I'll admit that I had certain…_doubts _about working with Drake." She stole a glance down at him only to be met with an amused smirk. "But now I see this is as more of a challenge than anything else."

"So what, I'm just a puppet in your little tutoring scheme?" Drake asked, allowing himself to rest against the back of the cushy couch.

"It's _not_ a scheme! Belleview's tutoring program helps out kids every day with their school and homework problems," she replied indignantly, using her hands to prop herself on the back of the couch. It gave her the appearance that she was looming and Drake felt uneasiness settle over him. "Besides that, it looks extremely good on a college application to be involved with such a prestigious program."

A look of confusion crossed Drake's face, one that Josh had seen many times before. "It means '_important_' bro."

Annoyance replaced confusion as Drake shot a glare to Josh, who was obviously enjoying the situation that was being played out in front of him. "Thank you Josh," Drake said sarcastically, overemphasizing his words. "You've done enough already, haven't you?"

"So, should we get started?" Mindy asked, straightening herself out. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her denim skirt and made her way back toward the dining room table. "I've got a few books here to help teach you about the structure of writing a paper and a few different author biographies so you can pick an author you might find interesting."

Josh moved over to sit on the couch next to his step-brother, who had a look of panic cross over his features. "C'mon bro, it won't be so bad. The paper isn't due for a month. With the way Mindy works, you'll probably get it done in half the time."

"Josh, she's actually going to make me _work_," Drake whined, his eyes growing wide at the thought. "Mindy's going to suck all the fun out of my life and then what? I'll just be a broken shell of guy. Do _not_ let me be her puppet!"

"You need her, but she needs you too," Josh pointed out.

"Yeah, for her puppet dancing pleasure," Drake replied as Josh stood up from the couch. He let out a laugh as he turned to leave, but Drake grabbed onto his hand. "Where are you going? You can't leave me _alone_ with her!"

"I promised Lisa I'd hang out with her this afternoon," he answered, yanking back his hand. "Let go of my hand!"

"Josh you _have_ to stay! I'm begging you!" Drake told him, almost bringing himself to his knees. "You're supposed to make sure she doesn't make me do a little puppet dance or something crazy like that. She might do it too – she's been in the looney bin. She's _seen_ things."

Josh rolled his eyes and stuck his hands into his jeans pockets, for fear of being grabbed again. "You'll be fine. See you later." He walked passed the table and gave Mindy a little wave. "Bye Mindy."

"See you later Josh," she replied, still sorting through the material she'd brought over for Drake. Josh turned to give one last look at his step-brother and had to stifle laughter upon seeing Drake moving his hands as though he were controlling marionettes.

"Dance puppet, dance!"

--

Josh had left for a reason unknown to Mindy and she stood in the Parker-Nichols' living room as silence filled the large space. Drake wasn't making any attempts at conversation first; she cleared her throat and sucked it up to be the bigger person.

"So…I guess we should get started?" she asked, looking at the back of Drake's head. He made a non-committal noise, shrugged his shoulders, and stood up from the sofa, walking around so that he was going in the direction of the large, wooden staircase.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs," he called out to her. She raised an eyebrow and gathered her books wordlessly. She caught up with him quickly as they reached the narrow hallway and followed him to the end where he breezily banged open the door to the bedroom that he and Josh shared. Mindy stopped in the doorway, taking stock of the huge room.

It's not like she'd never been in here before; but it hadn't seemed so long ago when she and Josh would cuddle on the ruddy looking sofa and alternate between watching chick flicks and old Bruce Lee movies. She remorsefully remembered the popcorn wars he would start by innocently flicking individual kernels at her, goading her until their bodies were twisted like pretzels into each other and she was giggling as he peppered her lips and neck with tiny kisses…

"You coming or what?" Drake asked, momentarily interrupting her little daydream. She hugged her books tighter to her chest as her lips turned downward into a frown.

"Is it okay that I'm in here?" Mindy questioned, the words coming out before she could censor them. He gave her a funny look that to read to her as _'why not?'_ before his own mouth smirked. Yeah, like _she_ was the first girl to ever step foot in here; because Drake knew in his own smug way that she _certainly_ wouldn't be the last.

"It's fine, don't worry," he assured her as he opened to the bureau by Josh's bed. He rifled through its contents as Mindy cautiously made her way in toward the sofa. When she had spread her books and papers out on the table, Drake had come down the stairs with a golf club in one hand a cup in the other.

"A golf club? What do you need that for?"

"Hey, you have _your_ way of studying," Drake said, gesturing toward the coffee table with his club. "And I have mine."

Watching as he set the cup and golf ball down on the floor, Mindy rubbed at the side of her head again and sighed. She had a feeling that tutoring him would be a lot more difficult than she bargained for, but she was more than willing to rise to the occasion; it was in her nature to meet a challenge. She wasn't going to allow herself to let Drake get the best of her, no matter how strong his own determination was.

--

Josh and Lisa exited the tiny yellow Volkswagen later that night and made their way up the neatly landscaped path to her front door. The day had been nothing short of being absolutely perfect and he felt as though he were walking on clouds instead of cold, hard pavement. Her hand was held in his and they reached the lighted front porch in a quiet silence.

"Well…I guess this is good night," Josh said and mentally cringed; he hadn't meant for that to sound lame out loud. Lisa merely smiled and shrugged with one of her shoulders as her hair fell over her eyes.

"Not necessarily. Do you want to come in? I don't think my parents are home."

The normal, adult thoughts of a teenage boy plagued his mind and ran rampant as he tried to think of an appropriate response. His mouth went slightly slack as he stuttered out a few "ums" and "ohs" while he ran a hand through his thick, dark curls.

"Is something wrong?" Lisa asked rhetorically, an amused smile playing at her lips. He sighed and gave a weak smile back to her.

"I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"A lot of things, actually. I'm thinking about how great today and yesterday was and how awesome tomorrow is going to be even though we haven't made plans yet, I know we're probably going to see each other anyway. I'm thinking about how it's kind of cold right now and going inside is a good idea, but is it too fast? Do I want to go inside because it's cold or because you're asking me? And then I think well yeah, of _course_ I want to go inside because you _asked_ me and I'm not sure what going inside implies because all I can really think about right now is how much I want to kiss you. Is _that_ moving too fast? I don't know if it is; I don't think it is but these thoughts are running through my head that I'm not sure what to think anymore."

Lisa stood still for a moment, still looking at him as she did before. He didn't know what to do or what to say; everything had just sort of spilled out from his head through his mouth. Josh had always been one to over-think situations and tonight was no diff-

Her hands felt cold and loose around the back of his neck, making the tiny hairs stand tall. Josh couldn't concentrate on that though when her lips connected with his and she tasted of spearmint and strawberries; a little sweet and sour, just like her. He had just started to bring her in closer, using his hands to guide the small of her back toward him when the front door opened and the bright foyer light shone on them.

"Ahh, what…" Lisa started as she quickly pulled away. Looking at the boy who stood in the doorway, she merely sighed. "Oh Gavin, it's just you."

"Hey Lisa. Hey Josh," Gavin said in his usual bored monotone. When Josh's eyes adjusted to the light, it took him a moment to recognize his co-worker; he'd never actually seen him out of his Premiere uniform but there he was, dressed in a faded Led Zepplin t-shirt and black jeans. In looking over Gavin's outfit, he realized something.

"Hey Gavin; aren't you supposed to be working tonight?"

"I think you're supposed to be working tonight."

"No, I asked you to cover my shift so I could hang out with Lisa," Josh reminded him as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You scored a date with my sister? Nice," Gavin commented, giving them an odd smile.

"God Gavin, you're so weird," Lisa interrupted, sighing again. She reached up and gave Josh a little kiss on the cheek. "Call me tomorrow okay? And don't think too much about it."

"Will do," he replied, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks. She smiled back at him and left the two boys standing on the porch as she disappeared into the house. He looked at Gavin and broke the silence as he cleared his throat. "So…"

"I hear BF Wang's has really good moo-shoo," Gavin informed him, licking his lips.

"They do; I had it when Lisa and I went there for dinner."

"Oh," Gavin replied as his face fell in slight despair. He looked so sad and dismal under the pale porch light that Josh took pity on him.

"Gavin, do you want to go get some moo-shoo?"

"Okay."

By the time Josh had dropped Gavin back off at home and driven back to his own house, it was a lot later than he was used to staying up for. He quietly entered the dark bedroom and turned on the tiny lamp on his night stand to see that Drake was already passed out in his loft bed, oblivious to everything as he quietly snored. Grabbing his pajamas, Josh turned the light back off and made his way toward the bathroom as he very tiredly got ready for bed.

--

_They were angry words and flushed cheeks. He couldn't exactly tell what they were saying, but Drake was irritated like he usually was conversing with the Creature. They stood practically nose to nose; close enough that he could see the flecks of gold in Mindy's dark brown eyes and he had a feeling she had already mentally calculated the number of freckles sprinkled across his cheeks._

_There was noise, lots of it, but Drake felt as though they were under water even though they were standing in front of the dilapidated couch in his bedroom. Everything was coming fast toward him even though his own movements were stunted and slow-like._

_And that's when things got really weird, but they felt so impossibly perfect. Drake had closed his eyes and everything had gone dark, but he felt with much more intensity. Mindy's lips on his and her hands tugging at the ends of his hair while his hands stretched out over her back and fisted in her bright pink polo. Her taste consumed him, filled his senses and twisted around his mind while grabbing at his sanity._

_This was wrong, wrong, wrong, very mind-numbingly wrong._

_But they pawed at each other, clawed at blushed flesh, and bit at kiss swollen lips. If this was wrong, he wanted nothing in the world to be anywhere in the vicinity of being right._

Drake's eyes flew open and adjusted to the moonlight that was streaming through the window near his bed. He felt a cold sweat beginning to layer over his skin and the comforter was too heavy for his liking. He kicked it off and looked around the room, trying to get some semblance of his surroundings. The normal happenings of what went on at three am greeted him: Josh snoring, the dehumidifier humming softly, the clock across the room ticking the minutes by quietly. His heart beat slowed to its regular pace as he flipped over on his flat stomach and buried his head in the warm pillow.

_It was just a dream…just a dream_.

--


	5. An Understanding

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (you awesome reviewers are what keep this story going!). Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

The week had passed by like nothing for Josh and he found himself working a late shift behind the candy counter at The Premiere. Part of his happy mood was due to the fact that it was _finally_ Friday and even though the movie theater was crowded and bustling with people, he liked it better that way because it usually meant he could keep busy. But the majority of his happy mood was undeniably due in part to hanging out with Lisa so much over the past few days; just thinking of her would cause Josh to randomly smile, often catching the odd stares of passersby. He didn't care that much though; infatuation was hitting him hard and fast and he was just grateful to finally have someone that he could call his own again.

Even though Josh hadn't been in love with her, getting over Mindy was still hard for him. He had even challenged Drake to that silly bet of getting all those phone numbers and even though he'd won with a sly victory, it had still left him with a hollow empty feeling and a broken heart.

Josh had just finished helping a customer when he saw Mindy amble up to the counter, all smiles. Even though she'd been at the house nearly every day helping Drake, this was the first time he'd actually seen her outside of class.

"Hey, what's up?" Josh greeted her as she leaned on her crossed arms on top of the glass counter.

"Not a whole lot. Cathy had to call her parents, so I thought I would stop by and say hi," Mindy replied, resting her head in her palm. "Has it been super busy tonight?"

"Oh you know, no more than usual. So how's the tutoring going? Drake doesn't really say too much about it."

"Really?" Mindy asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm surprised he hasn't complained about the work to you."

"Oh he does; he just doesn't really talk about what goes on during your tutoring sessions. You know Drake really isn't one for words," Josh replied, taking a rag as he began to wipe the counter top.

"Yes, I was very aware of that fact when he gave me a rough, rough draft of the paper we're working on," Mindy noted, rolling her eyes as Josh smiled knowingly.

"That's pretty impressive; you were able to even _get_ a rough, rough draft out of him."

"I had to let him write it with crayons. The different colors kept him entertained, like a little baby chimp or something," Mindy replied dryly. "Oh by the way…this might sound weird, but has Drake been acting strange around you?"

"Define strange," Josh said as he stood near the soda machine. "Do you want a Mocha Cola or something?"

"Sure, diet please."

"With no ice; I remember," Josh replied, grabbing a cup from under the counter. He missed the small smile on Mindy's face as he began to fill the cup. "I haven't really noticed anything out of the ordinary with Drake. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid," she admitted, taking the plastic cup when he offered it to her. "Thanks. It's just that…well, he keeps avoiding eye contact with me and he goes out of his way to sit on the opposite end of the couch or something. I mean, it's _no_ secret that we don't like each other, but this is weird even for him. I didn't know if you noticed anything or he was just saving this crazy behavior just for me."

"I haven't seen anything, but I'll keep my eyes open," Josh assured her as a thoughtful look crossed his face. He broke eye contact with Mindy for a moment as his blue eyes scanned the lobby of the busy theater. He saw plenty of random people until surprisingly, a familiar face broke from the crowd. He waved and called out to her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Josh," Lisa greeted him, sidling up to the candy counter as she held a brown paper bag. "My mom and I were just doing a little shopping and we passed by an Auntie Anne's so…" She slid the bag to him as he curiously looked inside. "I thought I'd get you a little something."

"A soft pretzel?"

"With cream cheese."

"Yesss," Josh sighed in bliss, closing the bag back up. "Thank you, that was so nice of you!" Both of them were smiling silly at each other; when Josh realized Mindy was still standing there, he was only slightly jolted at the sight of her. "Oh! Sorry, Lisa this is my…"

He paused because he wasn't quite sure how to bring about his relationship with Mindy. Not that they _had_ a relationship anymore, but he hadn't even officially asked Lisa to be his girlfriend yet, much less talk about exes. Mindy must've taken the hint because she stuck out her hand and filled the silence.

"Hi, I'm Mindy."

"Lisa."

They politely shook hands and Josh felt the awkward silence settle over them until Mindy cleared her throat and looked down at the plastic top on her drink.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go see if Cathy's done with her phone call," she told him. "Thanks again for the drink Josh. Nice meeting you Lisa." They both waved good bye as she took off in the opposite direction.

--

Carly was always an on-again, off-again thing for Drake. As much as they had in common, more often than not they would grate against each other and cool out for awhile before finding their way back together again. They hadn't been together for a couple weeks when he had called her that Friday, sweet talking his way into meeting her somewhere private. Somehow, they'd ended up making out in the backseat of her car while turning their relationship back to on-again.

But he wasn't fully into it, not like other times. While the week had flown by for his step-brother, Drake had felt worn out by the time the final bell at school had rung for the weekend to arrive. Between band practice, school, and tutoring sessions, he had flopped into bed every night, completely exhausted. But like clockwork, he began to wake up in a cold sweat as dreams of Mindy continued to plague him.

They weren't even the fun kind of dreams he _used_ to have about her, back when she and Josh were still dating; the kind where she would fall off a cliff or get attacked by a giant spider or something. No, these were the kind of dreams that made him uncomfortable just being in the same i _room_ /i as her. Drake had tried not to make it obvious that he was avoiding her, but it was pretty hard when Mindy made it clear they were going to see each other every day until his paper was finished. It was also difficult to concentrate on her talking to him about prepositions and pronouns when his imagination was recalling the way her hands had slid over his skin in his dream from the night before.

"Drake…_Drake_."

She sounded so far away, but he broke from his reverie to realize that he was still lying across the backseat of Carly's car with her thin, petite body weighted against his lanky one as her fingers twirled in his long, auburn bangs.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong? You're like a million miles away or something," Carly told him, pouting.

"How can I be a million miles away if I'm right here with you?" Drake asked, trying to summon up some of his famous charm as he flashed a grin. Her full lips pressed against his smile as she made a tiny mumble of agreement.

"All right, if you say so," Carly murmured, leaving a trail of kisses across his cheeks toward the tip of his freckled nose.

It wasn't supposed to be happening like this. Here was Carly; cute, funny, and totally into him when the mood suited her. Things should've been good right now; they should've been going his way like they _usually_ did. But Mindy had somehow managed to weasel her way into his mind; it was one thing if she popped into his subconscious nightly because he had no control over that.

But he was imagining Carly's hair was straighter and more of a darker shade of brown and a little longer too, past her shoulders. She was already wearing a skirt, but maybe if her lips tasted more like that apricot lip gloss he noticed Mindy always carried around…

"I can't….stop Carly, stop," Drake breathed into her ear as he removed her hands from working his belt buckle. "I forgot something."

"What?"

"I need…I need to go pick up Megan from oboe practice," he improvised, not sure if she would buy the lie. "Usually Josh goes, but today is my turn and I guess I just…forgot."

"Oh," Carly said flatly, sitting up so that she sat upright on top of him. A fleeting look of worry crossed her face as she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, no," Drake replied quickly, moving so that he could prop himself up. They were tangled awkwardly for a moment before they separated. "It's okay; it's not that far from here." He leaned over and kissed the apple of her flushed cheek. "I'll call you later."

Before she could even say goodbye, he was out of the car and had slammed the door shut behind him. Drake picked a direction and started walking; ironically, it was the opposite way of where Megan's oboe practice was held.

Lucky for him, Carly didn't know that.

--

It was the middle of the afternoon the next day when Drake and Mindy met again for another grueling session. He was leaned back in the cushy desk chair, mindlessly spinning in the seat as he watched her sitting properly on the couch while she read over his paper. He had managed to pull something together the night before and he had the sneaking suspicious she realized that when he saw her sigh and toss the paper on the coffee table.

"I don't know Drake," Mindy sighed again, leaning against the back of the worn couch. "How do you _feel_ about the paper?"

He shrugged and avoided her gaze. "I don't know. It's just a rough draft."

"Okay, yeah it is _just_ a rough draft. But a rough draft is supposed to be sort of like a blueprint for what the final paper is supposed to be," she explained, tiredly lacing fingers through her hair. "I just…I don't know, I just don't feel like I'm getting through to you."

Drake crossed his arms over his polo shirt and didn't say anything as he continued watching her. This was a different side of Mindy he wasn't used to seeing; all week, they had taken petty swipes at each other while she tried to explain the basics of English to him and well…he wasn't going to sugarcoat the fact that he'd basically ignored her tips and gave her drafts that he thought he could get by on. He should've counted on the fact that she could see through his act and now they were left with her frustration and his boiling boredom.

What he hadn't counted on was that in his boredom, there was a feeling of…guilt? True, Drake had been avoiding Mindy like she was the common cold, but he wasn't blind to how hard she was trying to work at helping him. But his stubbornness was beginning to wear him out and maybe it would just be easier to give in to her.

"Mindy, it's not…_completely_ your fault," Drake said, breaking the silence with soft words. "Look, you and I both know that I'm not a fan of all this school stuff. Sometimes, it's just a matter of relating the stuff to something I'm interested in."

"Like what?"

"Well," Drake said as he stood from his chair and began to pace. "A few years ago, Josh helped me cram overnight for the Quiz Bowl - "

"Wait, _you_ were in a Quiz Bowl?"

"Yeah, it was for this insanely cute girl."

"Naturally."

"Can I finish please?"

"Sorry; go ahead."

Drake moved from his spot near the window and sat down on the couch next to her and she noticed that it was the closest they'd been near each other all week. "_Anyway_, Josh couldn't get the concept of atoms and molecules through to me, so he started relating it to music."

Mindy looked at him thoughtfully and reached for his rough draft as her mind spun with possible techniques she'd learned from the tutoring program orientation. So far, none of them had worked on him, but something he said had sparked the beginnings of an idea in her.

"Relating it to music huh?" she asked rhetorically, her eyes perusing over his barely legible scrawl. It was a miracle she'd managed to make it through the first time. "Okay, so you write your own songs, right?"

"Yeah, all the time. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" She exclaimed, feeling an excitement build inside her as she enthusiastically waved her hand. "Writing a paper is like writing song; you want to make sure that everything flows together. Your intro paragraph, that's like your first verse. It sets up what your paper, or rather your song, is about and sets the mood of everything. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does," Drake replied. He looked at his paper for a moment and then reached over the side of the couch to grab the acoustic guitar that had been propped up there from the night before. Leaning against the couch's arm, he rested the back of the guitar against his stomach and idly plucked at taut strings. "So…what, that makes the body of the paper like the bridge and chorus?"

"Yes! I mean, you throw some other verses in there, but you use the body of your paper to reiterate what you started out with in your first verse, or your intro."

"Reiterate?"

"Repeating your intro paragraph," Mindy said with a new found patience. "So when you've written about enough points to support your intro paragraph, that's when you go into a conclusion. You can write it like a killer electric guitar solo or something, but that's all there is to it!"

Drake looked at her with a little more respect than she'd ever seen in his eyes. He continued to move his fingers smoothly over the strings, a rich sound emanating from deep within the instrument. She was mesmerized with the ease that he seemed to play at and when she looked up from his hands to his face, she was treated to a rare smile.

"Okay, now _that's_ what I'm talking about," he said appreciatively. "Your big fancy words will only get you so far, Crenshaw."

_Crenshaw_. He was the only one who called her that and it reminded her of the time that he'd driven her home a few weeks ago. They'd had a nice moment between them, kind of like the one building between them right now. She didn't want to ruin by talking, but something was nagging at her.

"I guess so."

"You guess so? Mindy, this is the most you've made sense to me all week!"

"Really?"

"Yeah; I mean, sometimes you'll talk and I won't really listen," Drake admitted, feeling no shame in his words. She merely rolled her eyes, knowing that much was true. "But the more you relate music to this paper…I don't know, I think that I can actually surprise Mrs. Hafer with this."

"I guess I'll have to brush up on my music knowledge then."

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

He looked so smug, so cocky grinning at her like that, but instead of the irritation that normally followed his smirks, Mindy was happy instead. She was finally getting through to him, but she had to know something from him first.

"Drake, do you _really_ want me here?"

It was a loaded question, at least for him. A couple days ago, he would've gladly responded with an exclaimed no and probably would've been the one to push her out the door. But the sleepless nights coupled with Mindy actually talking _with_ him instead of _down_ to him like a petulant child (something Josh had called him in anger more than once), something inside him made him think about what she was asking.

"Why, what do you mean?"

"This week has been so hard and I don't mind a challenge, but you have to admit that it's been difficult," Mindy told him, looking down at her lap to avoid his gaze. "I don't want to give up, but if you honestly don't want my help, I'll back off."

"Stay."

He said it with little emotion, not giving her even the slightest clue as to what was running through his mind. With Drake, she could never quite figure him out; not like Josh, where she'd been able to read him like a book. He surprised her, to say the least, and she lifted an eyebrow when she raised her head to make eye contact with him.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Drake agreed, setting his guitar against the coffee table as he sat upright. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't trying to drive you away, but you stuck through it Mindy. If we keep working together like it was just now…it would be more than worth it to see the look on Mrs. Hafer's face as she gave me back a paper with a passing grade on it. And I need your help to do that so…stay."

"Okay," Mindy replied as she sat up and smoothed out her rumpled skirt. "But we need some ground rules. No more showing up late when I come over." Drake nodded as she continued. "No more avoiding me, and no more writing your papers in crayons. I don't think a number two pencil is too much to ask for."

"What do I get in return for these conditions?"

"Besides the help that I'm so _graciously_ offering you?" Mindy asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, I need more than that."

"Um…okay," Mindy replied, thinking it over. "No more insults, from you or me. We can at least act congenial to each other, right?"

"What does having a birth defect have to do with anything?" Drake asked, confused. "I thought you said no more insults!"

"Birth defects?" Mindy asked, puzzled at what on earth he was talking about. She mentally went through her internal vocabulary list before sighing as she realized what he was talking about. "Con_genial_, not con_genital_. It means we can work together nicely. Agreed?"

He let his palm slide into hers as they shook hands in agreement. "Okay, I guess I can live with that."

"Good," Mindy replied happily and she looked down at his paper that was currently sitting in her lap. "Now let's talk about your contraction use."

--


	6. Apology Accepted

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (you awesome reviewers are what keep this story going!). Enjoy!

I also think I need to clarify a few things with this story. I'm having it take place after the episode _Mindy Loves Josh_ and then I will make the story work around episodes like _Josh is Done_,_ Eric Punches Drake_, etc. just so you have an idea of a time frame for where this story fits in Drake & Josh "world". I will make sure to say which chapters have episode spoilers (in case you haven't seen those episodes) when I get to those parts of the story, but this was just to clear up some confusion I saw in some reviews. Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

The next few days went much smoother because of Mindy's rules and Drake was grateful for that. His odd dreams (or nightmares, as he liked to think of them) had quit interrupting blissful sleep, but he'd also stopped drinking Mountain Fizz after brushing his teeth. Josh had been against the "bad" habit even after listening to his theory and refused to get any more and Drake had been too lazy to do it himself.

Needless to say, the dreams had stopped and that made it a little easier to work with Mindy. And now that she wasn't spitting out insults at him, he kind of got why Josh dug her so much. She was still a little too uptight for his liking, but her guard seemed to fall slightly the more time they spent together. He wouldn't exactly say they were friends, but it was a definite improvement on their situation since the beginning of the month.

Drake came home from band practice late in the afternoon and walked into the kitchen while tossing his keys on to the counter ledge. School had been let out for the day due to parent/teacher conferences and he figured it would be best to avoid the house and his parents as long as possible. He thought he would be safe coming home to grab some juice, but he was surprised when he saw his mother, Audrey, washing her hands in the kitchen sink.

"Mom! What are you doing home?"

"Just came to check on a couple of things before I left for conferences," Audrey replied as she turned off the faucet. Quickly drying her hands with a paper towel, she disposed of her trash and turned to smile at her son. "Any surprises I should know about?"

"Um…I had _nothing_ to do with the chemical mix up in Mr. Roland's class," Drake said, pulling a carton of orange juice out of the fridge. "And Mrs. Hafer still hates me."

"She doesn't i _hate_ /i you," Audrey replied, rolling her eyes. Honestly, Drake could be so melodramatic about school sometimes that she wished he focused even half the energy he had for his music into his homework. "Mrs. Hafer thinks that you don't work up to your full potential and I can't say that I disagree."

"Mom, that's just code for her hating me. Ask Josh, he'll tell you," he replied, sighing. "Speaking of which, have you seen him around lately?"

"No, I just got home," Audrey said, looking at the wall clock. "And now I gotta get going. Don't go too far, I'm sure we'll need to talk when I get back."

"About how great of a rock star I'm going to be and how college is a giant waste of time?"

"Show me a record contract and maybe I'll reconsider," Audrey replied wryly as she kissed his cheek. "Until then, maybe you could practice getting a C+ on a test instead of getting a C sharp minor on your guitar." She started to make her way toward the door as her black pumps clacked across the linoleum. When she reached the door, she turned to face him again. "And use a cup if you're going to have some juice please. I'll see you later honey."

"Bye mom."

Hearing the door click shut, Drake didn't start drinking from the carton until after he heard the creaking noises of the garage door closing. Opening the fridge, he put the juice carton back and shut the door with a smile. He _never_ got caught; a fact that often irritated Josh.

Thinking of his step-brother, Drake made his way toward the staircase and realized it had been awhile since the two of them had had any quality "brother" time. Their night out of Bad Movie Tuesday had been put on hold due to tutoring sessions with Mindy and Josh had been spending all his free time with Lisa. If his new girlfriend hadn't gone to another school, Drake doubted he would've seen Josh there either. He made a mental note to get a hold of Josh as he entered the bedroom they shared and abruptly stopped in the door way.

Lying across Josh's bed, Lisa was sprawled on her stomach with her ankles crossed in the air as she flipped through a magazine, looking a little bored. Drake's eyes, however, zeroed in on the fact that she was wearing a pink plaid skirt, a cream colored bra, and not much else.

"Uh…hi."

Not the smoothest of opening lines, but to be fair, he'd been caught off guard. Lisa looked up and smiled when she saw the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.

"Hi. You must be Drake," she answered warmly, not missing a beat. "I'm Lisa."

He nodded, feeling his old charm course through him as a smirk played at his lips. "You know, I'm pretty sure that _my_ mattress is a lot more comfortable than Josh's."

She raised an eyebrow and was about to answer him, but they heard the sound of footsteps climbing heavily up the stairs.

"Okay Lisa, I put our shirts in the gentle cycle and -" Josh started saying from the hall, but stopped when he saw a familiar back standing in the doorway. "Drake? What are you doing home?" He followed Drake into the room and crossed his arm over his naked chest when he saw Drake's eyes widen at the sight of him.

"Hey, I was just getting to know Lisa here," Drake replied with an amused lilt to his voice. He looked between the two of them, wondering just what was going on. "Am I interrupting something?"

"I thought you were supposed to be at Trevor's house," Josh replied, accentuating his words.

"Well I came back to get some juice and then I just so happened to find Lisa here _on your bed_," Drake said, crossing his own arms over his chest and smiling as he watched a flustered look cross his step-brother's face. "I don't know _why_ you don't introduce me to your girlfriends more often Josh."

Josh let out a nervous laugh as he looked down at the floor, but when he looked back up his eyes held a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"He's kidding," Josh told Lisa, a nervous laugh almost covering his words. "Drake, you're such a _kidder_. Go, go spread some of that joy somewhere else." He took a hold of Drake's bicep and practically shoved him out the door with only slight exclamation from Drake. He shut the bright blue door in his face and turned to face Lisa with a waning smile on his face. "Sorry about that."

"'S okay," she replied as she shut the magazine. She rolled over onto her side and Josh felt his mouth go dry as his eyes roamed over so much of her tan, exposed skin. "Now, where were we?"

She had surprised him by warmly kissing him on the mouth, is where they had been. And because he hadn't seen it coming, he had clumsily spilled the cold glass of Mocha Cola all over them and caused him to shriek in a manner that he was positive wasn't very manly. Lisa had giggled and easily tore off her shirt, claiming it was no big deal. But Josh mumbled out some excuse about stains and fabric softener and he'd rushed out to make his way toward the laundry room

"Um, uh…we were here. In my room. On my…um, bed," Josh said, stumbling through his words as he made his way across the room. He reached the edge of his mattress and paused. Lisa smiled and shifted so that she was on her knees and even then, her head only came up to his broad, pale shoulders.

"How is that you've lived in California your whole life and you're still such a white boy?" Lisa murmured, using her soft palms to slide up his bare biceps. Simultaneously, he felt shivers go up his spine and down his arms as he let out a semi-shaky breath.

"I'm _really_ into lotion usage," Josh murmured back, watching her as she used her fingertips to graze over his collarbone and up the base of his neck. "Suntan lotion, hand lotion, body lotion…I'm all over it."

"Mmmm, so soft," she sad quietly before pressing her lips to his and pulling him down to where it was comfortable.

--

Later that night, Drake was still reeling from that afternoon. He was glad that Josh had found someone, but he had to get the details later. Mindy was on her way over to do one last look over of his paper and his presentation before it was due Monday and he took the time to make sure the living room looked tidier. He was scooping up stray magazines when Audrey walked in. He looked up and was met with a stern look from his mother.

"Hey mom; how were conferences?"

"Drake, I thought we talked about restricting playing your guitar and working on your homework more," Audrey told him, jumping right in to the discussion he'd tried avoiding all day.

"I am, sort of. I only go over to Trevor's four times a week instead of _five_!"

"That's not good enough," she replied as she sat down on the couch. "And what about Mrs. Hafer's class? Please tell me you've at least _started_ on the project that you have due Monday."

"Mom, why do you think Mindy's been coming over practically every day? She'll be here any minute to help me finish."

"Is that why she's over all the time?" Audrey asked, bringing a hand up to rub her temple. She'd been so busy with work lately that the guilt of not checking in with her kids started to creep in. Walter was a good father, but sometimes he failed to notify her on important things like this, a trait she could find exasperating. "I thought she was one of your new girlfriends."

"What?" Drake asked, surprised. He stood up straighter and gave his mother a look as he stuck a hand in his tight jeans pocket. "No way, Mindy is _not _my girlfriend."

"But she and Josh are broken up, right?"

"Yeah, he's dating Lisa," he replied, mentally flashing back to that afternoon. However, he was pretty sure his mom didn't need to know those details.

"Lisa who?" Audrey asked somewhat rhetorically, watching as Drake fluffed a few pillows absent-mindedly. "This is what happens when I don't check in; I'm totally out of the loop. Anyway, there was a reason I came in here…oh right! I just got off the phone with Aunt Catherine and she invited your father, Megan, and I to her beach house tomorrow night."

"Just you three?"

"Yes, she's still angry at you boys for not bringing her cake to the wedding," she reminded him. "So the three of us are going to spend the night Saturday. You and Josh can behave yourselves, right?"

"Well, Josh can."

"Drake, I'm serious here. You're already in hot water with your grades, so I wouldn't push it," Audrey warned him as she stood up. "Your father and I will discuss your punishment depending on how well your project goes for Mrs. Hafer, understood?"

"Yes Mom, I got it," Drake replied, sighing. As if on cue, the door bell echoed through the house and he made his way past Audrey. "Okay, that's Mindy. I _promise_ I'll work hard."

--

"Okay, just remember to relax," Mindy reminded him as she smoothed out her skirt. Her bare legs were stretched out along the length of the couch in the living room as she leaned against a pillow while Drake stood near one of the arm chairs, note cards in hand. It was the third time they'd gone through his speech and he couldn't seem to shake the oncoming nerves. "If you think to talk slow, you'll actually talk at a somewhat normal pace. You tend to rush through your speech."

"I just want to get this over with already," Drake complained as he flopped back into the armchair. He sighed loudly and shuffled through his hand-written note cards, attempting some organization. He'd never cared much about note cards, speeches, or presentations but it was just a testament to how much Mindy had actually gotten him to cooperate with her over the last month.

"I know Drake and we're _so_ close," she assured him, digging a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket. He looked up from his lap and stole a glance as the gloss slid easily over her bottom lip, making it shiny and almost near perfect. She noticed him staring at her and he quickly made sure to look in the opposite direction. "So um…okay, so this is like you're gearing up for a performance or something. Mrs. Hafer and the class are your audience, so just play up to them."

"If only it were that easy."

"It is that easy! I can't believe you're getting stage fright over this. The great Drake Parker, a three-peat winner of the Premiere's talent show, afraid of a little old speech?"

"That's different," Drake countered, slumping back in the chair. "I mean, I get how you're trying to make this whole experience relating to my music, but getting up in front of Mrs. Hafer? Just makes me nervous. And there's that little fact that she _hates_ me."

"Well, I'm not exactly her favorite student either," she reminded him.

"How could I forget? You weren't my favorite person either."

It had seemed so long ago when Mindy had framed him for putting Mrs. Hafer's car in her classroom. That's really when the feud had started between them and fuel was only added to the fire when it seemed as though Mrs. Hafer hated Drake even more than she already had.

Mindy paused as she put her lip gloss back in her pocket and looked him evenly. "You know, I don't know that I ever apologized to you for that."

"Well it was understandable. You know, between my trial in front of the student council and when they dragged you off to the loony bin; it was a crazy time," Drake said sarcastically. He ducked, narrowly missing the pillow that she threw his way. "Hey! Okay, I'm sorry! Geez, I was just kidding. Now go on, you were just about to apologize to me."

"Yeah, like you really deserve it now," Mindy replied. She settled back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, I just wanted you to know that it was never about you."

"Please, it's _always_ about me."

"Maybe in your own ego-inflated head, but at the time it was definitely more about me than you. I was dealing with some things back then and I lashed out," Mindy admitted, throwing her legs over the side of the couch as she sat up. "So I just wanted to apologize for that."

"Well, thanks. I appreciate that," Drake replied, the corner of his lip turning upward in a small smile. She smiled back at him as the silence enveloped them before he cleared his throat and looked back at his note cards.

--


	7. Spinning in Circles

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (you awesome reviewers are what keep this story going!). Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

The tiny cell phone felt weighted and heavy in Drake's palm and he'd stared at it for so long that the blue back light had gone off. Well really, he hadn't been staring at the screen so much as staring at the number _on_ the screen.

An idea had come into his head, not long after he'd said goodbye to Mindy the day before. Their project was nearly finished; she had promised to come over Sunday afternoon just to polish any rough edges to his speech.

That left Saturday night all to himself and Josh and the idea of throwing a party seemed entirely too appealing. After all, his parents and Megan were staying in Laguna Nigel over night and he had a sinking feeling that when his parents returned, there would be a fairly good chance he was going to be grounded as a result of school conferences. If he twisted his excuses enough, he might be able to convince them that throwing a party was their idea. When he was on, sometimes Drake could be just _that_ good.

He'd wait to start the party until Josh left for work, of course. Less of a chance of being talked out of the party with his step-brother being the good, golden child that he was. Besides, it was much more fun to blindside him when he least expected it.

Drake had finished calling all the appropriate people and word was being spread like wildfire. In a couple hours, the house would be filled with people, music, laughter; it would be his last highlight before getting in trouble, he assumed.

The cell phone still lay in his hand with Mindy's number flashing at him. He'd been debating for ten minutes whether to invite her or not, but with a decided sigh, he shut the phone. Drake had no doubt she was probably busy doing homework or babysitting her little brother or working on projects for future science fairs.

She probably wouldn't want to come anyway.

--

Music was pulsating out of the huge speakers set up in the corner of the large living room as teenagers milled around while they danced, talked, and generally had a good time. And why wouldn't they? They were at one of the hottest parties thrown by one of the most popular boys in school while his parents were out of town. It was the epitome of the teenage experience.

But when Josh walked through the door after working a double shift at The Premiere, all he saw was trouble. Trouble infiltrating the kitchen, trouble dancing next to the breakables, trouble creating a mess that he was probably going to have to clean up. And where there was trouble, Josh always knew where to find the cause of it.

"DRAAAAAAAKE!"

He saw the source of the problem, surrounded by a group of good-looking girls (as _usual_, Josh noted sourly), lift his head and wave over to him. Josh made his way toward Drake, angrily pushing people out of his way.

"Heeey, Josh! I didn't know you'd be home so early!" Drake said as a broad grin spread across his face. He was leaned against the back of the couch with his arm casually draped over one of their pretty classmates, who happened to be staring at him with the adoration that only teenage girls were capable of. Drake's other hand was occupied with a large plastic cup that he used to articulate whatever he was saying.

"Drake, it's ten thirty. What are all these people _doing_ here?" Josh asked, a mixture of worry, confusion, and anger all boiling in the back of his throat.

"Well, it's Saturday night and Mom, Dad, and Megan are at Aunt Catherine's, so I thought…PARTY!" Drake exclaimed, with the people in earshot cheering him on.

"But Drake what if the cops show up -" Josh was abruptly interrupted when Drake's arm moved from the girl's shoulders and his rough palm covered Josh's mouth.

"Josh, Josh, Josh…_Joshie_," Drake said, attempting a tone of reassurance. "Lighten up, man. It's just a party! Dude, you gotta learn to loosen up a little man. Why don't you go invite….whassername…" Drake snapped his fingers in realization as the girl next to him left to leave the boys to their conversation. "Mindy! Tell Mindy to come on over! You guys could _both_ loosen up. _A lot._ And Lisa! Now she knows how to loosen up; maybe you can get her to take her shirt off again." A smug smirk came over Drake's lips and he had to resist the urge to smack it off.

Josh watched as Drake dropped his hand from his mouth and leaned back against the couch, his lips now twisted into a cocky grin. Something wasn't clicking here, especially if Drake was actually in support of the idea of Mindy coming over to their house. True, they had seemed to be acting a lot more civil to each other lately, but actually being _friends_? He knew something had to be up and then it began to dawn on him…

"Drake, what's in the cup?"

Drake's eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other, obviously caught off guard by the question. "Nothing, man. Just something to drink."

"Can I have some?"

"Ew, you have cooties," Drake replied, his lip curling in slight disgust.

"Since when? C'mon, just give me the cup," Josh said, reaching out toward his step-brother. Drake kept the cup out of reach until Josh was practically on top of him with their stomachs touching as he tried grasping for the stupid cup. "Okay, fine! Keep it!"

Drake smiled and took a swig of his drink, proud of his minor accomplishment. But he watched as Josh took survey of the room and followed the other boy's eyes over to where a group of people had gathered.

"Is that…a _keg_?!"

Drake rushed ahead of Josh to try to reduce what could be a major blow up, and not to mention a buzz kill, for the party.

"It's not a keg!" Drake insisted as Josh gave him a look. "It's not! It's…a shiny foot rest!" Pushing his way past a few people, he grabbed an empty metal folding chair and sat down while propping his feet up on top of the obvious looking keg.

"A shiny foot rest?" Josh asked incredulously, crossing his arms over his red Premiere vest.

"See?" Drake gestured with his cup. "Look, it's all shiny and…foot-rest-y."

"Come here!" Josh took a hold of Drake's upper arm, jostling him out of the folding chair and pulling him into the middle of the room. "Drake, do you see what's going on here? Mom and Dad are going to kill us if they find out and I don't want to be the one stuck covering for you _again_. Besides, didn't Mom say something about being on your best behavior before they left?"

"Okay Josh, you know what I see?" Drake asked him, putting his free hand on Josh's shoulder. "I see a party going on and people having fun. Lots of fun. And you know who should have fun? _You_! Don't worry about Mom and Dad, I _never_ get caught!"

"Yeah, but -"

"Just stop, all right? Try to relax and have some fun," Drake said, exasperated. He shoved his cup onto Josh's chest and wandered off, no doubt looking to find some amusement elsewhere. Josh sighed and took a sip of the drink, confirming his suspicions as beer burned a trail down his throat. He tossed the cup into a conveniently located trash bag and made his way to the kitchen to call for some reinforcements.

--

Mindy had managed to make it to the party, despite the tiny issue of having to sneak out of her bedroom window. It was moments like these she was glad she had parents who were heavy sleepers.

She entered the house cautiously, nervous as to what she might find. Josh had made it seem as though the house was seconds away from being set on fire, so she'd done her best to get over there as quickly as possible. But then again, Josh did take it upon himself to over exaggerate situations from time to time. Or almost all the time, to be completely honest.

But when Mindy entered the foyer, it looked like a pretty decent party was going on. Sure, the music was a little too loud (if you could even call that music), but that could be saved with a little twist of the volume knob. She began to scan people's faces looking for Josh when he appeared in front of her, wearing a red striped apron over his blue oxford button down shirt and black work pants while clutching a mop rather tightly.

"Hey Josh. Looks like you got quite the shindig going on here," Mindy noted, taking off her jacket.

"I'm so glad you're here," Josh said with a mixed look of panic and frustration as his knuckles turned white around the mop's handle. "What I've got here is a disaster! We are going to be in _so_ much trouble."

"Josh, it doesn't seem that bad," Mindy replied, trying to soothe his frazzled nerves. "Why don't you take off the apron and loosen your grip on the mop." She managed to wrestle the mop away from his hand and set it against the wall. "There, that's better."

"Not a disaster? Look at _all_ these people!" Josh exclaimed. Before he could continue, Drake showed up at his side, throwing his arm around his step-brother's broad shoulders.

"Hey Mindy, you made it!" Drake exclaimed rather enthusiastically. "See Josh, I told you to invite her and she showed up!" He looked back and forth between Josh and Mindy. "You showed up! Good for you! Good for her! Good for me!" Drake took a gulp out of the cup he was holding and flashed them both a big, goofy grin.

"See? _This_ is a disaster," Josh said, emphasizing his point by poking Drake.

"Drake, you wanted me at this party?" Mindy asked incredulously. Maybe Josh's freak out on the phone hadn't been for nothing. She'd seen Drake yesterday, so if he wanted her there, why wouldn't he have said anything then?

"Well, yeah. 'Cause you're so _preeettty_," Drake slurred, bringing the cup to his lips again. "Hey!" Before he could take another gulp, Mindy grabbed the cup out of his hands.

"Drake Parker, are you _drunk_?!" Mindy demanded, already knowing the answer. "What is the _matter_ with you? I've seen you do _a lot_ of stupid things, but this has got to take the cake."

"You brought cake? What kind, can I have some?"

"There's no cake!" Josh exclaimed loudly. A few people turned to look at him funny, but he pursed his lips and stared at them until they went back to doing their own thing.

"Okay, so cake or no cake, you and Josh should have fun! It's a _party_!" Drake exclaimed as people cheered when they heard the word party. It was an ongoing habit Josh had noticed and it was a minor thing that he just mentally threw on top of his list of annoyances. "I had good inten…int…ideas!" He threw a sneering look at Mindy. "You're not the _only_ smart one."

"Well, we know he's definitely drunk now," Mindy remarked, as Drake started to cling on to Josh harder. "Are there a lot of drunk kids?"

"No, a bunch of them left after I started taking keys," Josh replied bitterly. "I never thought I'd be wrestling for a pair of keys with like seven hundred Hello Kitty key chains on it."

"Yeah, you took that cheerleader _down_, man," Drake interrupted, giggling at the thought. Josh looked down at him and back at Mindy, getting a desperate look in his eyes.

"_Help_!"

"Well, okay. Let's try to figure this out," Mindy replied, putting her hand on her hips. "Find anyone who's sober and tell them the party's over. Worse comes to worse, call Craig and Eric and see if they can come over and drive anyone home. And if that doesn't work, start calling par-"

"Uh-oh," Drake interrupted loudly, clutching his stomach and looking at the ground very intently, almost swaying side to side.

"Uh-oh?!" Josh and Mindy replied in unison, panicked.

"Uh-oh!" Drake's arm slid off Josh as he took off, bolting toward the stairs, presumably toward the bathroom. Mindy and Josh looked at each other, worried, as Josh dragged his hand through his hair in exasperation.

"_Headaches!_ "

--

Mindy reached the top of the stairs to see Drake slumped over and sitting next to the closed bathroom door. It would've been kind of cute if he hadn't looked so pathetic or if his face hadn't been a lovely shade of green.

"If you're going to be sick, it's more effective to be near a toilet," Mindy told him, making her way to stand next to him in the dimly lit hallway.

"I'm aware of that," Drake spat back, as he lifted his head from his bent knees. His buzz from the beer was officially killed and he concentrated very deeply on trying to keep his head clear. "The door is closed." Mindy stood for a second and then brought her hand up to the doorknob. With a twist and a push, she opened the door to reveal a dark and empty bathroom. Drake looked into the bathroom, up at Mindy, and scoffed. "Show off."

"C'mon, I'll help you in," Mindy offered as she lent a hand, but Drake shook his head.

"No, I'm okay. I don't want to take a chance of any sudden movements," Drake said, letting his forehead rest on top of his bent knees.

"Probably a good idea," Mindy agreed as she sat down next to him. "Wouldn't want to projectile vomit or anything."

"Gross," Drake muttered as he felt her hand start to rub his back. He lifted his head quickly. "Hey, what _are_ you doing?"

"Trigonometry," Mindy replied dryly to his blank stare. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"I think you're rubbing my back."

"Well, that would be correct."

"Why?"

Mindy sighed in exasperation. "I'm trying to be nice here, okay? Josh was really worried about you and I told him I'd check on you while he called people's parents." There was a moment of silence as he absorbed this new information. "Besides, my mom used to do this to me when I was sick. I thought it might help."

They sat there in silence as Mindy continued to rub him; her fingers kneading into his sharp shoulder blades. The pressure felt good; it was taking his mind off the fact that the dull ache in his head would probably be spreading soon throughout his body.

"So is Josh really mad?"

"I think it's safe to say that you can keep your half of the best friends forever necklace you guys share," Mindy answered sarcastically. "But I wouldn't worry too much. He always forgives you."

"Yeah, he's pretty great like that," Drake agreed, turning his head so that he was still resting on his knees, but looking up at her. "You know, part of this party was for him."

"What?"

"Well…don't get me wrong, it was mostly for me," Drake back-tracked. "My mom is kind of angry at me about parent teacher conferences, so you know. One last party before I'm totally grounded. And Josh has been so busy with Lisa, and I've been so busy with you that we haven't really seen each other that much lately. It's better to just surprise Josh with this kind of thing." He paused to rub a palm over his face and pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to ward off the oncoming headache. "In a way, the party is kind of your fault too."

"My fault?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking of this as a sort of mini accomplishment of having survived working with you for more than a week," Drake told her wryly as he rested the side of his head on top of his jean-clad knees. "I wanted to tell you about it…" His voice trailed off as she shifted her legs so they were crossed at her ankles while her hand continued to rub patterns up his back.

"Why didn't you?" Mindy asked softly. They briefly made eye contact before he shrugged.

"I didn't think you'd want to come."

Mindy paused before responding as she let the weight of his words rest heavily in her mind. She gave his back a few more rubs before dropping her hand into her skirt-covered lap. "We've both been through a lot lately Drake. And if I don't get the chance to tell you later, I'm proud of the work you did."

She leaned over to kiss him on his red-flushed cheek, but was met with a brush of his lips instead. They were soft and warm with the slightest taste of beer still lingering. It only lasted for a few moments, but Mindy's legs felt paralyzed as her brain tried to figure out what she was doing.

Their minor kiss was over all too quickly as Drake was scrambled to get to his feet. He ran into the bathroom quickly and shut the door with a reverberating slam that vibrated through the wall that her back was propped against. Mindy sat quietly and felt confused while she was treated to the sound of Drake throwing up.

Funny, that's what the butterflies in her stomach felt like doing too.

--

"_Draaake! Get out of the bathroom!"_

A few hours later, the pounding on the door was almost as intense as the pounding in his own head, starting somewhere between the middle of his eyes and working its way to the back of his skull. Drake slid down to the floor with his back flush against the bathtub and rested his head on the toilet seat.

"I am _not_ getting out of this bathroom!" Drake yelled back as his throat tingled with uncomfortable soreness. "You can't make me!"

"_C'mon, get out of there! I need help cleaning and vacuuming before Mom and Dad get home!"_

"Just go away, go far, far away," Drake muttered, bringing himself closer to the toilet. The awful, burning sensation was creeping up the back of his throat again and he would have to lock himself in here all night if he had to. There was always the chance that Josh would get the idea to steal Megan's lock picking kit, but at the moment it sounded like that idea hadn't dawned on him yet.

"_Fine, stay in there you bathroom hog! I'll go clean up the mess - __as usual__!"_

Although he felt a tiny pang of guilt as he heard Josh make his way downstairs, he was finally relieved to get some peace and quiet. The pain in his head wasn't getting any duller and he'd never felt so si-

Ew. Drake would never get used to the feeling of throwing up, ever. This night would definitely go down as a reminder of when alcohol became too much to handle, in more ways than one. Sitting on cold tile with his body draped over the toilet, Drake couldn't feel any worse.

And yet, there was a tiny ray of happiness that filled him, if only for a few brief moments. He hadn't meant to kiss Mindy; it just kind of _happened._ As much as he was mentally cursing out whoever had brought that stupid keg over, he was grateful that he'd been drunk when he talked to her; that was an excuse he could certainly fall back on.

Something was nagging at him though; something that Trevor was always saying whenever they got together for a party. He would say it ceremoniously before taking his first alcohol-laden sip of the night and if only Drake could remember…

_Remember kids, drunken sayings are sober thoughts!_

Trevor's words swirled around in Drake's head as he continued to over-think his encounter with Mindy. He grabbed the edge of the toilet bowl when his stomach felt like it was churning and prayed for the chance to just pass out already.

--


	8. Apricot Distractions

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated (you awesome reviewers are what keep this story going!). Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the broad, clean windows of the living room the next afternoon and filled the room with a nice, warm glow. Josh had spent all morning making sure the house was exactly as his parents had left it and as he plopped down on to an armchair, he felt exhausted. He was debating over whether or not to cover for Drake when he heard the front door creak open. 

"We're back!" Walter exclaimed as he dragged a suitcase in the doorway with him. Audrey and Megan followed him into the foyer as Josh got up to greet them.

"Hey guys! How was Aunt Catherine's?"

"Awful," Megan said with disgust as she tossed her duffel bag onto the bottom step of the staircase.

"It wasn't all bad," Audrey told him as she took of her jacket. "We got the beach house! Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Aunt Catherine gave _me_ the beach house," Megan informed him. The four of them walked into the living room where Megan and Audrey collapsed onto the large sofa as Josh and Walter took their seats at opposite arm chairs. "That was the best part!"

"Wait, why would Aunt Catherine give _you_ the beach house?"

"Because _I_ actually went to her wedding," Megan said, crossing her arms over her chest. She rolled her eyes and continued. "I don't know, I was just being really nice to her. She popped a few pills and next thing I know, her wrinkled hand was pressing the key into my hand."

"Needless to say, we were all surprised," Walter said. "But Aunt Catherine was pretty stubborn about her decision. She slapped my arm when I tried to disagree!" Megan giggled and he gave her a pained look, but didn't say anything.

--

Drake began to descend the staircase; his head throbbing painfully as his hangover fully encompassed him. He heard the voices of his family chattering happily (and _loudly_) and he rubbed his eyes and tried to look more awake and alive than he felt. He shuffled barefoot into the living room and gave Walter a weak smile when they made eye contact.

"Drake, have you been asleep?" Walter asked, looking at his watch. "It's almost two in the afternoon!"

"Uh…" Drake stuttered out, casting a sly glance at Josh, who merely sat back and waited for an answer like the rest of them. "I um…pulled an all-nighter. You know, working on that project for Mrs. Hafer. Just like you asked me to Mom." He gave her a winning smile and braced himself with his hands along the top edge of the sofa. He looked down at the ground and tried to swallow away the dry feeling in his mouth before he looked up and saw Megan grinning like she had a secret (which she probably did). "What are you smiling for?"

"Aunt Catherine gave me her beach house," she answered in a sing-song voice. Drake's mouth dropped open in surprise as he let out a little gasp of shock.

"What? No way! You know how many times that woman has shown me her collection of other people's _hair_?"

Megan dug into her pocket and brandished silver key that she held close to his face. "Take a good look at the key because you're going to have to be really nice to me if you ever want to use it." She looked over at Josh and nodded in his direction. "You too boob."

"Megan, be nice to your brothers," Audrey said absent-mindedly as Megan put the key back in her pocket. "Boys have you had lunch yet? I can go make some sandwiches."

"Sure Mom, that'd be great," Josh replied, smiling at her.

"Walter, want to give me a hand?"

"Sure honey."

As soon as the swinging door shut close Walter, Josh's smile dropped as he gave a withering look to his step-brother.

"An all-nighter?"

"Please Drake, like you _really_ spent a Saturday night working on a school project," Megan told him as she stood up from the couch. "I know you threw a party last night."

"How could you _possibly_ know that?" Drake asked in an exasperated tone.

"I have my ways," she replied mysteriously. She flounced out of the room as Drake leaned forward so that his head was resting on his crossed forearms.

"Dude, don't throw a party like that again," Josh told him bitterly as he stood from his armchair. "Seriously, besides the fact that Megan now has information to _blackmail_ us with, that was really uncool to leave me to clean up everything."

Drake lifted his head and gave him a contrite look as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry man, really. I promise I'll make it up to you. Hey, have you ever had a churro?"

"Those breaded pastry things at the mall? _That's_ how you're going to make it up to me?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Trust me dude, just wait until you try one," Drake assured him as he stood upright. A thought dawned on him as panic quickly crossed over his face. "Josh, what time did Dad say it was?"

"Almost two, why?"

"Mindy's supposed to be here in like twenty minutes!" Drake exclaimed as he tore off for the staircase. He ran into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to the shower as he did his best to ignore the pounding at the front of his skull.

--

Mindy stood on the front porch of the Parker-Nichols' house much longer than was necessary. Her Dad had left minutes ago, waving after he honked the car horn and sped down the street. But she stood still, readjusting her backpack strap, and watched as dark, gray clouds were starting to roll over the sweltering sunlight. _This is silly_, she thought to herself and boldly rang the doorbell; her stomach dropped when she heard it echoing in the house. Nerves tingled in her fingertips when the door finally opened.

"Hey Mindy, come on in," Josh said, smiling warmly at her. She gave him a weak smile as she followed him into the house. "_Drake! Mindy's here!_" He turned to look back at her as they walked into the living room as she dropped her backpack on the couch. "Still working on that project? It's due Monday you know."

"Yeah, I know. We finished the project on Friday," Mindy informed him, casually leaning her hip against the edge of the couch. "I'm just helping with final touches and going over his speech; stuff like that. Drake seemed kind of nervous about it."

"Yeah, Mrs. Hafer doesn't exactly give Drake an easy time," Josh admitted. Silence came between them and Mindy's head raced with thoughts of things to say to fill the void.

"So, how's Lisa doing?"

It wasn't the first time they spoke of her, but bringing her up still felt unnatural for Mindy. She was glad that the two of them had been able to stay friends after their breakup, but to see Josh smile the way he did…it was weird, knowing she wasn't the cause of it. She wasn't jealous, not anymore, but Lisa wasn't really a topic they discussed at length (not like photon cannons or something).

"Uh, great," Josh replied, nodding as he looked at the floor. "You know just…great."

Was that doubt she saw in his face? It was too quick to tell because they both turned their heads when they heard footsteps clamor down the stairs.

"Hey," Drake greeted them, rubbing a cream bath towel over wet auburn hair as he walked into the living room. Mindy bit the inside of her cheek, noticing how deliciously comfortable he looked in gray sweatpants and a faded paint splattered yellow t-shirt. She quickly broke his gaze when she was aware that she noticed him like that.

"Uh, hi," Mindy replied, looking down at her backpack. "Ready to get started? I brought my laptop to look up some speech techniques."

"Sounds thrilling," he told her and she smiled at the obvious sarcasm. "Hey man, you gonna stick around?"

"No, I need to take my paper over to the library because my printer is messed up again," Josh said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed his keys from the dining room table as he made his way to the front door, checking his pants pocket to make sure his USB flash card was there. "See you guys later!"

Drake and Mindy waved their goodbyes and settled themselves on the couch.

--

She was not going to be the one to talk about it first.

They were polite enough to each other, but silence mostly enveloped them and Mindy was starting to feel like anxious, like maybe she should bring up last night to him. While he was working on his note cards, Mindy had managed to finish her Biology homework, check her email, and now she was going over some Literature extra credit for her English class, but she'd read the same sentence five times already.

It wasn't fair, the way Drake kept distracting her and he wasn't even doing it intentionally which only infuriated her more. The scent of his shampoo would occasionally waft into her nose, smelling clean and wonderful. And as if that weren't enough, every time she slid a look to him, her mind would wander as she noticed the way his t-shirt hugged his lithe body and that maybe his sweatpants rode awfully low on his hips; a blush would creep into her cheeks and he would have to notice her _then_ and ask what was wrong. She would mumble that it was nothing and he would shrug it off until the whole noticing process happened again a couple of minutes later.

Things were a lot easier when they used to yell and snipe and trade insults on a regular basis. But now they were friends and that had seemed to be going well, much to both of their surprise. Maybe they just couldn't function at friendship; maybe they had to either hate each other or be in a relationship and she wasn't sure how she wanted to tackle either of those options. Not that she wanted a relationship with him… maybe. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad…

Mindy frowned at her computer screen and pulled at the collar of her purple polo shirt with her finger. She was sitting on the couch and over-thinking things because she wouldn't be the first to talk about it. She let out a low sigh and forced herself to concentrate on the review of Jane Austen's work she should've been reading.

--

"Wow, it's really coming down out there," Drake observed, looking out the bay window in the living room. Rain that had started as a slight drizzle turned into wet sheets as it slid and pounded against the side of the house. Mindy looked up from Drake's note cards that she'd been proof reading and sighed.

"It just figures," she replied, pushing stray strands of hair out of her eyes. "It looked like it was going to rain, but I left my umbrella at home anyway." She stole a look at her watch and rolled her eyes. "And great, I need to get going in order to baby sit my little brother tonight."

He broke his gaze from the window to look her in the eye, but before Mindy could respond, he'd gotten up from the gray sofa and made his way to the ledge where his keys were laying. Twirling the metal key ring easily on his index finger, Drake spun on his heel and nodded his head toward the door.

"C'mon, I'll give you a ride home."

Once outside, the two of them raced to the little yellow Volkswagen and Mindy sighed impatiently as Drake let himself in before unlocking Mindy's door. The rain was cold and tiny droplets clung to her pale skin as she hopped in while she slammed the door shut.

"Ha, ha, very funny," she told him, making sure her seatbelt was firmly locked in place. She lifted her head and saw him give her an impish smile before his foot slammed the pedal down and they jerked out of the driveway and down the rain slicked street. Considering his usual breakneck speed, Drake adjusted slightly for the weather but she still felt he was too fast, too careless behind the wheel and she saw her knuckles turn white as she clutched the edge of the seat tightly.

He kept the radio on, soft and low, to cut through the silence between them and she was grateful for the distraction. Between them, it had been too quiet, too disconcerting and she was starting to get worried. At this point, Mindy would've gladly had traded insults with him, like the way it used to be. But they were friends now and she had waited all day for him to bring up last night and well…Mindy was tired of being the bigger person so she didn't say anything.

Drake had decided to take his cues from her; in his own thinking, if _she_ wasn't going to bring it up, why bother? He _wanted_ to say something as he felt the words bubble at the tip of his tongue before they were practically burning to get out, but he held it in. As he took the curve slowly into her subdivision, he slid a glance in her direction and wondered if she was thinking the same way he did.

Probably not, because last night by the bathroom was all that his mind was focused on. A constant tangle of concern and confusion looped in his head around the slight brushing of their lips and to be honest, it worried him. Drake Parker _never_ worried about girls before and who was Mindy Crenshaw to make him start now? Some of that old anger from all those months ago came rushing back, but he kept his cool as the wheels bumped over into her driveway.

"Thanks for the ride Drake," Mindy said with a polite quietness when he eased on the brakes before he reached the garage door. He set the parking break and she started to unbuckle her seatbelt, but his freckled hand was quick and he grabbed her wrist to make her stop.

"I'm sorry," Drake blurted out, letting the words race out before he could think to stop them.

"About what?"

"Last night," he said simply, lifting his head to look her straight in the eye. There was a look of recognition he saw in them, but she didn't answer him right away. For as much as Mindy harped on him about prepositions and comma use, it was killing him a little inside to be met with bated silence. "You know…by the bathroom…"

"Yeah Drake, I know what you meant," Mindy interrupted, her mind recalling the incident quickly. She tried to gauge what his reaction might be, but thought it might be better to play it safe. "Look, you were drunk and we've gotten close lately, so it's okay. Things happen, you know?"

A drunken mistake, that's what she was chalking it up to. He wished he had some alcohol in him right now; it might've explained where he summoned up the courage for his next actions. He shrugged a shoulder and leaned forward closer to her; close enough that he could almost see the gold flecks in her eyes that he had dreamed about.

"I'm still sorry," he said softly and his voice felt gravelly, as though it was scratching up the inside of his throat and being dragged out.

_You already said that_; the words were itching to get out, but there was a split second that Mindy paused before she said anything and realized everything. The way his hand still hadn't left hers and the way the rain sounded as it slapped against the window shield. The guitar solo from the speakers was strumming out soft and sounded a million miles away. She noticed he paused too, but then everything went blurry.

Drake was doing this; he was actually going through with it. He had always been impulsive, but sometimes things needed to be like that because it made life more interesting. If he had thought through things, there was a good chance he would've convinced himself out of kissing her. Because in all honesty, this was _crazy_. Not necessarily the craziest thing he'd ever done, but nestled somewhere between running over Oprah Winfrey and sleeping with Katie, that wild girl who showed up at the talent show for the past three years and came to cheer him on during his trial in front of the student council (she was nice, but _wow_, that girl had issues).

He tried to be soft about it, to go slow and hold himself back because even if he was Drake "girl expert" Parker, there was a niggling seed of self-doubt that had rested in his head that maybe she wouldn't want this. But he was pleasantly surprised when Mindy pushed back, intensifying the pressure and he was through with thinking when her hand snaked its way over the tender skin of his neck.

When the tip of Mindy's tongue traced over the outline of his bottom lip, Drake breathed in deeply through his nose and caught the faint smell of her perfume. One of his hands reached out for her hip, trying to pull her closer. But his other hand reached to the side when she playfully bit at his lip and they were both startled and broke away from each other when Drake had accidentally hit the horn, releasing a short shrill noise.

Mindy looked at him with flushed cheeks and panic in her eyes as she nervously ran a hand through her brown hair. "I uh… um… I gotta go."

Quickly exiting the car, he made no moves to stop her as she slammed the car door and she ran fast up the front sidewalk and into her house. Drake sighed as he leaned his head against the back of his seat before starting the engine. As he pulled out of the driveway, he realized two things.

She did taste of apricots and he was royally screwed.

--


	9. Different Kinds of Bonding

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Seriously, you guys have been so awesome about reviewing that I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Enjoy!

Just want to point out that in this chapter, I have stolen Dan Schneider's idea of renaming real life things (like how "Hannah Montana" became "Susannah Louisiana" in "The Battle of Panthatar"), so just keep that in mind when you read it.

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

Drake arrived back home and prayed that Josh would still be at the library as he ran up the stairs, his feet thumping loudly upon each non-carpeted step. Unfortunately, he had no such luck as he burst through the blue wooden door. 

"Hey bro, what's up?" Josh greeted him cheerfully as he gathered some loose papers off the cluttered desk. He was smiling and had such a peaceful look about him, complete opposite to the tornado of emotions funneling in Drake's own body.

"Um, nothing, nothing. Just dropped Mindy off, that's all," Drake replied quickly as he raked a hand through his hair. It still felt damp from the rain and he tried to make himself calm down when he saw Josh give him an odd look. He avoided his step-brother's gaze and grabbed the tabloid lying on Josh's bedspread in an attempt for some sort of distraction. He pretended to be fascinated with Nicole Richie's apparent eating disorder.

"Yeah, I figured that when I came back to an empty house," Josh answered as he packed his papers and folders into his black backpack. "How do you feel about your project and Mindy?"

Drake's eyes widened as he looked up from the magazine. "I don't have feelings for Mindy!"

"I didn't say you did. Why are you getting all bent out of shape?"

"I am not! I'm sick of everyone assuming something's going on between me and her," Drake replied, letting the lie roll out of his mouth.

There was an alarm that sounded off in his head that told him he should probably tell Josh about this afternoon and the party. But he barely knew how to make sense of those events himself, so why get Josh all involved and twitchy?

However, Josh laughed in response, which surprised Drake. "Yeah right dude, like anything could happen between you two."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"C'mon Drake, Mindy isn't exactly your type," Josh said knowingly as he zipped up his bag. "You tend to go for girls who aren't exactly making the honor roll."

"Are you saying I couldn't get a smart girl?"

"No, I'm saying it'd be impossible for you and Mindy to work out because you're so different," Josh explained diplomatically. "Besides, I'm kind of surprised you've managed to make it as friends without killing each other so far."

_There's a lot more to be surprised about_, Drake thought bitterly, but he stayed quiet as he climbed the ladder to his bed and felt the mattress dip under his weight when he sat down. He immediately felt a wave of sleepiness roll over his body as he watched Josh reach the door.

"Dude, are you okay?" Josh asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," Drake replied dismissively. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna watch OR over at Lisa's. I'll be back later."

"Bye."

When the door clicked shut, Drake sighed, fell back against the bed, and wondered for probably about the five hundredth time what he was getting himself into.

--

"_But Dr. McWonderful is never going to come around. Mary, why can't you see that?"_

The music started to swell from the television speakers of some band that Josh didn't recognize, but the lyrics seemed poetical and insightful enough to sing the words that were theoretically on Dr. Mary Deth's mind.

"_I guess I just have to have faith he'll be there when I need him."_

Josh and Lisa let out simultaneous groans as OR faded to black for yet another commercial break.

It was a weekly habit they'd started of watching OR together on Sunday nights so they could share the end of the weekend together before their hectic lives of work and school interrupted their time together during the week. Josh had been excited to find a fellow OR fan in Lisa, but quickly learned that her idea of being a fan was mocking the actors and the storylines while still being tuned in every week. At first, Josh couldn't understand the appeal of Lisa's endless teasing; why even bother to watch the show? But he soon got over it because sometimes the actors did oversell their scenes and watching Lisa giggle at a scathing, sarcastic comment he made was worth it.

"Geez, how can a TV show this popular have a lead character has about as much sense as a piece of wood?" Lisa asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes. She looked down at the empty yellow bowl between them and grabbed it as she stood up to stretch her legs. "Do you want some more popcorn? There's still some left in the bag."

"Sure," Josh answered and watched as she walked to the kitchen while smiling to himself.

Lisa came back with a fresh bowl and two bottles of water to find Josh zoned out in front of the TV while singing along with an old Mentos commercial. She giggled as she juggled the objects in her hand and motioned to throw a water bottle toward him.

"Here Tai, catch!"

He seamlessly caught the cold bottle and gave her a confused look as she plopped down next to him while popping a few buttered kernels into her mouth. "Tai?"

"You know, from that teen comedy, _Mindless_?" Lisa asked, making reference to one of her favorite movies. When Josh shook his head and shrugged, she raised her eyebrows and offered him the bowl. "You've never seen it? I thought everybody had seen _Mindless_. We'll have to fix that."

"Right after you see _Blues Brothers_," Josh reminded her as he ate his own handful of popcorn.

"It's a deal," Lisa agreed and they both became quiet as OR came back from its commercial break.

--

"_Shep, why won't you talk to me about the other night?" Mary asked as she and Dr. Shep Herd stood next to the bed of a comatose patient._

"_Mary, I've been a little busy with my patient load lately. Can we discuss this later?" Shep answered, dragging a hand through his over-stylized hair._

"_No. Maybe we need to discuss it now when we're not alone at my house, or in your car, or in the hospital elevator. You always seem to make me forget how to talk when we're in those places," Mary said accusingly while checking the heart monitor._

"_Dr. Herd, your heart patient from this morning is back for her check up," a nurse said, popping into the room. She left and Shep gave Mary a knowing look._

"_See? Always coming back for more McWonderful," Shep said, smiling._

"_I'm telling the others that I'm changing your nickname to McAvoid-the-problem," Mary told him while crossing her arms over her blue scrubs._

"_Now see, that doesn't quite roll off the tongue as well, does it?" Shep replied as he walked out the room._

"_No, it doesn't," Mary sighed to no one in particular._

"Ugh, I hate Shep," Josh commented, absent-mindedly raking a hand through his own black curls. "First of all, what doctor has hair that looks that good? Or what normal guy does, for that matter?"

"Shh!" Lisa exclaimed with her eyes glued to the screen. "You have beautiful hair baby, but shhh!"

"That's not the point," Josh muttered.

"_Belle, you get too emotionally involved with your patients," Dr. Georgie O'Mallard said softly to Dr. Belle Stephens, who was crying quietly on his shoulder. "Something will happen with a patient and you'll bake a thousand cupcakes for about a week and then you attach yourself to the next patient that walks through those doors. It's not good for you."_

"_I know you're right Georgie," Belle said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "You're always so good to me, you know? You always know the right thing to say."_

"_Aww geez Belle, I'm only telling you what you already know. You just need to hear it every once in awhile."_

"_You're always the one to give it to me straight Georgie. I've always loved that about you," Belle told him as she stood up. "Thanks for being such a good friend."_

OR faded to black again but this time with the credits rolling by in all their embossed glory. Lisa snuggled deeper in to Josh's shoulder and he softly rubbed his thumb against the soft skin of her forearm.

"Oh Georgie," Lisa said with a sigh. "Too bad Belle always shoots him down, because he's so obviously in love with her."

"Watch, I bet Shep will get around to her before Georgie makes a move," Josh predicted, using the remote to turn the volume down. "McWonderful has to make his rounds; I bet it's in Rick Sey's contract."

"I don't know, there's a certain charm about Dr. Herd," Lisa countered.

"When he slicks his perfect hair up with gel or when he sleeps with Mary and then avoids her for a week?"

"When he's walking away," Lisa said in a matter of fact tone. When Josh raised his eyebrow as if to question her, she could only grin up at him. "His butt looks pretty cute in those green scrubs."

"Oh yeah?" Josh asked, grabbing some kernels of popcorn. She opened her mouth when it looked like he was going to feed her one, but he ended up flipping the kernel into his own mouth instead. He smiled, watching her pink lips turn into a frown. "No popcorn for McWonderful fans!"

Lisa shifted on the couch, moving so that she could throw a blue jean clad leg over Josh's and she sat on his lap as she looked over him calmly. "That's too bad. But you know who I'm an even bigger fan of?"

"Who?" Josh asked, his eyes never leaving hers as her hands slid up his bare arms and rested on his shoulders that were swathed in the dark blue fabric of his t-shirt.

"Georgie," she replied simply with the right corner of lip turning up, exposing a tiny dimple in her cheek. "That whole nice guy thing is kind of…sweet. Nice. Pretty sexy for a guy to care about his friend more than his hair care products, if you ask me."

Her finger played with the collar of his shirt and Josh got the idea that they weren't talking about OR anymore. Georgie who? The thought floated away when Lisa dipped her head closer, letting her dark brown hair fall over her shoulders and hang near her face, almost like a curtain. He saw how she bit at her bottom lip and he couldn't find the words to describe the electricity that was thrumming through his body in the quiet closeness of the moment before she kissed him.

There was a wave of familiarity that swept through Josh when their lips connected and he gave in to the comfort of her touch when Lisa's hand cupped the back of his neck and pulled him closer. He was beginning to be able to read her through his actions and learn what she responded well to when they were alone like this; a nip here, a tug there only resulted in pleasure for both of them.

She started to slide out of his lap now while still holding onto his neck and pulling him with her. But when Josh stood up, extended to his full height, their mouths broke apart and she gave him a grin that dissolved his insides into a blissful warm feeling. Lisa reached for his hand and began to lead him through to the back of the house.

"Where are we going?"

"Just a little tour. Keep all hands inside the tram and please, no flash photography," Lisa joked, holding on to the anticipation that was growing thick in the air. They reached their destination when she felt the wooden door to her bedroom against her back and she easily used her foot to kick it farther open.

"Hey, this is your room," Josh stated with his eyes growing at that realization.

"Last stop on the tour," Lisa replied, ignoring the embarrassment in his eyes from making such an obvious comment. It was a fleeting moment as Josh scanned the room with bright, red painted walls and flowered bedspread. He looked down at her face and couldn't hide his smile.

""What, no gift shop?"

"Where do you think we are, silly?" Lisa asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist and brought him closer. The words bounced around in his head, working out their meaning as she guided him toward the bed and then everything began to click into place as they fell into the mattress. He wanted to say something, but every time he tried to break away, she brought him right back to her distracting mouth.

Somewhere between Josh's shirt being tossed aside and Lisa kicking off her sneakers, he was able to get a breath in while he put his hand over hers and stopped her from unbuttoning her shirt further.

"What's going on Lisa? Is this going where I think…"

"It can."

Those two small words made his stomach drop all the way down to his feet as he nervously tried to swallow away the feeling of his dry mouth.

"I mean, my parents aren't going to be home for awhile and Gavin's working," Lisa said, trying to explain herself. The panicked look on his face was somewhat unsettling to her. "I don't know, I just thought…Josh, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Perfect," he tried assuring her as his voice cracked in a way that he hadn't heard since eighth grade.

He leaned forward to kiss her, but she pulled away at the last second and grabbed his hands. "Josh, you're shaking! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," he lied and avoided her gaze by looking at the beige carpet when she raised her eyebrow. "Hey, remember when we were talking about _Mindless_?"

"Yeah," Lisa replied, wondering where on earth he could be going with this. There was a stammer in his voice that he was trying to hide and she was getting worried the more he dragged this out. "What about it?"

"And I've never seen it before, right?"

"Well yeah, but I have it. We can watch it this weekend."

"Okay, that's just it!" Josh said, finally looking up from the carpet and into her eyes. "You have _Mindless_ and you love it and you've seen it a few times and it's familiar to you. But I've…never really seen _Mindless_ before, you know? It's a lot like _other _things I've never really seen before."

"Oh. _Oh_," Lisa answered, his tone finally registering with what he meant in her head. "Well, um…that's okay, really." She tried to sound assuring before she paused. "Do you _want_ to see _Mindless_?"

"God _yes_," Josh said pleadingly with an obvious desperation that she couldn't help but giggle at. Lisa scooted closer to him on the bed as she wrapped her arms around his bare neck and brought him in for a hug. His skin felt cold to her touch, but she could feel his shaking start to disappear. "I'm just kind of nervous, you know?"

Lisa nodded and kissed the side of his head, moving her lips down his jaw until she brought her mouth to his. He pressed back, harder so that he guided her back so that she lay flat on the bedspread underneath him. Josh pulled away to look into her eyes and was happy to see her smiling at him.

"Me too."

His grin only grew larger and somehow in knowing that Lisa felt the same way made him feel eerily calm. Well, not _completely_ calm, but easy enough that his hands stopped jittering. That came in handy as his fingers ran over the smooth buttons of her shirt before he started undoing them, trying to be patient and not rip the delicate fabric. He helped her slide out of the sleeves and it joined his own while he enjoyed the sensation of her bare fingers running up the skin of his bare back.

--

Drake was awake, but his eyes stayed closed as he lay in his bed and tried to attempt falling asleep again. He was restless and racked with guilt from this afternoon, which caused his mind to race with different scenarios of telling Josh the truth. Maybe that would be the only way to ease his conscience, but he didn't even know how Mindy felt about the whole thing. He wanted to think that it would be easier to talk to her first, but he didn't even know if she ever wanted to see him again.

_But she kissed back_. That had to count for something, right?

Drake was facing the wall, but he heard the sound of the door creaking open and tried to ignore it and find an easy pattern in his breathing. He opened his eyes and concentrated on the moonlight shining through the cracks in his blinds, but he heard what sounded like Josh climbing up the ladder to his loft. Drake could somewhat make out the other boy's figure in the darkness of their room and he let out a yelp when the mattress dipped as he felt his waist being straddled.

"Drake, Drake, Drake!" Josh hissed urgently, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up! Dude, wake up!"

Drake twisted his body so that he could reach the lamp on his night stand and he squinted when light flooded from the small bulb as he pulled the cord. "I'm up, I'm up. Man, why are you on top of me? Do I have to get the bullhorn?"

"Sorry dude," Josh said without an ounce of remorse as he situated himself so that he sat on the edge of the mattress instead. Drake yawned as he sat up and pulled the brown comforter tighter around his waist.

"What's so important?" Drake asked, rubbing his eyes awake as he did so. In the light, he could see how wide Josh's grin was and he wondered for a moment if that old wives' tale was true, about your face sticking that way if you held it for too long.

"I had _sex_!" Josh exclaimed quickly and he paused, letting the words crackle in the quiet of the room before he continued. "_With_ a girl!"

In all honesty, that was probably the last thing Drake ever expected to hear from his step-brother's mouth. His own mouth dropped open before it spread into a wide grin and he knew he was fully awake now.

"Well, it's about time! Congratulations man!" Drake replied, slapping a hand on Josh's back as he stole a glance at his clock. "Wow, I guess that explains why you were out so late."

"I know, I know," Josh said with a blush that crept into his cheeks. "I couldn't wait to tell you Drake; I practically raced home."

"That's great man, I'm so happy for you," Drake answered, letting out a yawn. They both sat in the quiet before Drake started elbowing Josh in the side and giving him a knowing grin. "So, how was it?"

Josh sighed and felt his blush creep down the back of his neck before he looked Drake in the eye. "Amazing. I just…I don't even have words right now. But I think I finally get why you walk around all relaxed all the time."

Drake let out an unexpected laugh as Josh stood up and began to climb back down the ladder. He slid further down into his comforter and watched as his brother made his way toward the large bureau they shared and pulled out some pajamas.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to get ready for bed. I need to…I don't know, decompress or something. The shock still hasn't worn off, you know?"

"Don't worry, that'll pass," Drake assured him as he pulled his blankets up closer to his chin and settled back into his pillow. "But when you get back, I want details."

"You got it bro."

Josh left the room and Drake let out another sigh and felt himself be happy. These days, he and Josh didn't see much of each other and it was starting to feel like old times again when they would stay up and talk through all hours of the night about girls and how to get back at their sister's pranks and just whatever.

It was a nice feeling that he tried to hold on to. Somehow, it eased the guilt that seemed to be permanently attached to his conscience since he and Josh had been drifting apart.

* * *


	10. Well Meaning Intentions

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Seriously, you guys have been so awesome about reviewing that I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

* * *

"Oh my GOD, what is the matter with you?"

Mindy rubbed her eyes and yawned as she worked the combination to her locker. "Good morning to you too Cath."

Cathy hugged her books close to her chest as she leaned her back against the bank of cool, metal lockers and tried to think of a way to backtrack her greeting. "I'm sorry Mindy, but you look kinda awful. Did something happen yesterday?"

"Couldn't sleep," Mindy admitted as she unpacked her book bag. She let out a yawn as she grabbed her Calculus book and rubbed her eye with the back of her hand.

"But what about those relaxation tapes your mom bought?"

"Relaxation tapes, warm milk, counting backward, doing homework," Mindy listed as she shut her locker door and faced her best friend. "Nothing worked. I just tossed and turned for a couple hours and I managed to doze off for about twenty minutes before my alarm went off."

The girls fell into step with each other as they began to make their way down the brightly lit hallway. Cathy found Mindy to be unusually quiet, but she chalked it up to the fact that they were on their way to take a Trig test and maybe she was thinking about that.

Truth be told, the exam couldn't be further from Mindy's mind. Not that she hadn't studied; she had gotten the bright idea to do that around three am so she was well prepared. But yesterday, with Drake in the car…well, the scene just wouldn't stop reeling in her head.

_Speak of the devil_, Mindy thought, spotting the cause of her problems coming down the hall in her direction. He looked visibly uncomfortable as they passed each other and she noted in the way that he avoided eye contact with her. She made sure her arm didn't brush against his and she was so lost in the fleeting moment that she nearly jumped when she heard Cathy's voice.

"Well that was weird. Drake just completely blew you off."

"It's no big deal," Mindy assured her as they reached their classroom. The two of them slid in to their seats as people continued to trickle in through the doorway and chatter about the test.

--

It was the end of the day before she saw him again.

Mindy openly admitted to herself that she was avoiding him like the plague. She took different hallways, hid in empty classrooms; unfortunately, it resulted in her first ever tardy in not one, but three classes. She sheepishly ran to her seat in Mr. Roland's class before he closed the door in her face and she had to suffer the wrath of his disapproving look. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

The last bell of the day had rung and everyone escaped quickly to their lockers, eager to make their buses or to their cars and get as far away from Belleview High as possible. Mindy was no exception as she tried to stuff her assignments into her backpack as neatly as possible.

However, she felt her spine freeze when Drake sauntered up to her and leaned his shoulder on the locker next to hers.

"Yes?" Mindy asked, forcing herself to be calm. She was going to be in control of this, even if it broke her.

"I um…I just had my presentation in Mrs. Hafer's class," Drake reminded her, flicking his bangs out of his eyes in nervous habit.

"And?"

"Look!" He exclaimed, holding a piece of paper proudly. Zipping her backpack, Mindy shut her locker and briefly made eye contact with his shining eyes before she saw the paper he was holding. Red marks were scrawled all over it, but in the corner, she saw the grade.

B+

"Congratulations," Mindy told him, smiling weakly. "That's great! You must be relieved."

"_So_ relieved," Drake agreed as he stuffed his free hand into his jeans pocket. "So hey um…I was wondering - "

"Actually," she interrupted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she noticed the time on the digital wall clock. "I need to go catch my bus. Can we talk later?"

"Mindy, I can drive you home," he offered. "And I _need_ to talk to you."

He was grabbing her hand before she could respond quickly enough and let out a yelp of surprise instead when he dragged her into a dark empty classroom. Closing the door, Drake hit the light switch as Mindy dropped her hand close to her side.

"Don't do that," she said with a quiet forcefulness as she shook out her shoulders. "I don't like being pulled."

Drake rolled his eyes and blew a sigh out of the side of his mouth. "Whatever. Look, you've been ignoring me all day. What's your deal?"

"My _deal_?" Mindy repeated, widening her eyes. She couldn't believe she was having the very conversation she'd been trying to hide from all day. But if he wanted to lock horns and battle this out, she wasn't about to step down from confrontation. "My deal is that maybe you can't seem to take a hint Drake."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you could at least give me a couple days to process, for starters," she explained to him as she perched against a cold, metal desk. "I was finally getting used to the idea of being friends before you went and kissed me at your party."

"I was drunk then," Drake admitted lamely as he stood across from her with arms crossed over his chest.

"You weren't drunk last night in the car," Mindy shot back, angry that he was resorting to excuses. "You kissed me again while apologizing for the _first_ kiss!"

"Hey, you kissed _back_! You can't place all the blame on me for that one."

There was a heavy silence between them as their words weighed down. Mindy felt her blood pump through her chest fast and hot and felt a twinge of familiarity in it all.

"Yeah, I did," Mindy replied simply. "And part of me wants to believe it was a mistake on so many levels."

"But…"

"But…another part of me doesn't want to believe that," she replied quietly. She tried to swallow away the dry feeling in her mouth before continuing. "Drake, I'm not like the girls that you usually date."

"I know."

"So what is that you want from me? Nothing? A fling? An _actual _relationship?"

She watched as he shifted from one foot to the other and could practically see the wheels in his head turning, trying to come out with an answer that would satisfy her. He didn't say anything right away, but he walked closer to her and closed the gap between them so that he was standing closer to her legs and Mindy waited for a response.

"I don't know, I guess I really haven't thought this thing out."

"_Big_ surprise."

"Mindy," Drake started as a sigh caught on to the tail end of her name. "It's been killing me these past couple of weeks that I've had these feelings for you that aren't exactly hate. Maybe it was easier to hate you back then, I don't know. But there's something here, right? I don't think this is all one sided."

He used a finger to push some of her loose hair behind her ear and Mindy let out another sigh at the feeling of his light touch. She closed her eyes and tried to come to terms with his words.

"It's not," she found herself saying, opening her eyes to see his dark brown ones staring back. Drake's face was getting closer and she was starting to smell the shampoo scent from his hair and as her mind looped yet again to last night, she felt his lips cover her own.

She put her hand to his shoulder, pushing away lightly until their mouths disconnected. "Wait, hang on a sec. We should actually talk about this you know."

"Talking is overrated," Drake stated confidently and she felt his warm breath brush over her neck. He started to lean in again, but Mindy pushed her palm more forcefully on his shoulder.

"C'mon Drake. What about Josh?" Mindy asked and at the mention of his brother's name, Drake took a step back and shrugged while looking down at the ground. "One of us had to mention him sooner or later."

"Josh…isn't an issue," Drake said carefully before looking back at her. He didn't sound all too convinced in what he was saying. "I mean, he's got Lisa and you guys have been broken up for what, three months now?"

"Four."

"So it's no big deal then, right?"

"You know it is," Mindy said. "Are you telling me that you haven't thought at all what his reaction to this would be?"

"Of course I have. I haven't felt this guilty since I accidentally broke a piece of Sheldon's memorial after Josh moved in."

"Sheldon?"

"Josh's pet turtle," Drake explained and then paused. "So what are you saying? You want to keep this from him?"

"I don't think we have a choice," Mindy admitted as she mentally weighed their options. "God, it would absolutely crush him."

"He'd get over it."

"Drake, I told him that I loved him and then I go and date his brother _and_ best friend? Honestly, do you see Josh taking that well?"

"No, I guess not," Drake sighed, sticking his hand into his pocket. His thumb fiddled with his belt loop while he looked down at the ground again. "I don't really like lying to him, but I've done it before."

He stepped closer to her again as she gave him a sort of half smile before she spoke. "We'll tell him eventually. I mean, this thing between us…it might not even work out."

"Right. Josh has _way_ better things to worry about than me and you."

"Exactly. There's no point in getting him all worked up over what could be nothing at all. Really, this is out of courtesy _for_ Josh."

"Mmhmm, no more talking," Drake breathed, his mouth inches from her own. He hooked his hand around the back of her neck and brushed his thumb against her earlobe as their lips met again. It was soft, sweeter this time around and Mindy smiled against his lips before they broke apart.

"So, a B+ huh?"

"I think if Mrs. Hafer could shoot fire out of her eyes, she would've done it."

--


	11. Choices We Make

**Author's Notes:** This chapter takes place during the D&J episode "The Storm", so major plot spoilers if you have not seen that episode. I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

**Summary:** Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

I also just want to make a note that I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I hit a major writer's block after the last chapter and as you can see, it lasted longer than I would've hoped for. This chapter is by far the longest I've written (over 4300 words) and they will only get longer as I continue to incorporate actual D&J episodes into them. I love that you guys are loving this story, but these upcoming chapters are going to take lots of time and effort to write so that they sound good. _Please_ take note of that. I do not intend on abandoning this story any time soon, but it will take longer to get each chapter out. Thank you for your cooperation. Oh and also, when I wasn't looking, this story hit over 4000 views, so thank you!

* * *

Dating Mindy Crenshaw was…interesting.

Drake had never met anyone like her and seriously doubted there was unless Mindy figured out how to make her cloning machine work on humans. He had no doubt one day that she probably would and she'd win tons of awards and be able to rub it in Josh's face for the rest of their lives.

Mindy was terrifyingly smart in a way that he was starting to become less afraid of, like when she put that big brain of hers to good use in helping him with his homework or finding secret makeout spots away from the prying eyes of evil Mrs. Hafer. Drake didn't like to admit it out loud, but he respected Mindy for her genius more than she gave him credit for. He realized a week and a half into their secret that she was probably one of the classier girls he'd ever dated; the classiest being Lindsey Baum from eighth grade, who didn't laugh in his face when he couldn't figure out how to undo her bra. Drake had come a long way since good old Lindsey and it was a testament to his flippant nature that he'd been able to remember her three years later.

In any case, the bottom line was that Drake was secretly dating one of the smartest girls in their whole school and she wasn't saying anything about the fact that he was publicly dating Carly. He thought that Mindy had made the wise decision not to say anything about that, to just let him have his cake and eat it too. What more could a guy want?

Three weeks into their secret, Drake realized that Mindy was probably just biding her time. She had to have been aware of the guilt that was settling in, the feeling that snaked through him when he spent time with his public girlfriend. It hurt him because it didn't feel like he was getting away with this grand scheme anymore; it was time a decision had to be made and Drake only hoped that it was the smart one.

--

It was supposed to be a great day.

Josh had managed to come up with an awesome gig for Drake and his band; opening up for The Sparks meant a lot of doors could open up just for them. Drake had been excited about the concert for two weeks straight, being able to talk of nothing else unless it pertained to his music and how it could be better. His band mates were sick of the constant practices, but Drake was relentless. Surely this gig would lead to other more awesome gigs in the future and they had to sound perfect, no matter what.

But the day of the concert, everything was falling apart. The band's sound was off, his drummer had a weird fetish involving women's clothing, and Walter was acting like a doof on television (well, not like that was new or anything).

But Josh had come into the bedroom, all smiles as usual, and Drake started to believe that things were looking up. Josh, being the best band manager _ever_ (as he liked to exclaim a lot), had arranged a bus from to take everyone to the concert and he assured Drake that everything was going to be okay. He left to go take care of things and even though his best friend was gone, Drake took solace in the words that he left. Maybe everything would be okay.

Until he spotted Lucy. And Christine. In the same room that his current girlfriend, Carly, was going to be in. All three of them together could only amount to the fact that Drake knew that badness was a-coming.

When Josh got all nervous about things, Drake knew that he sweat in uncomfortable places and tended to be twitchy. Drake would always laugh it off; tell Josh to get over it and grab a towel or something. But as he stood in the living room with Carly's arm around his waist while Christine and Lucy shined bubbly smiles at him, Drake felt an unfamiliar wave of nervousness and heat wash over him as his shirts suddenly felt tighter than normal. He realized his own advice to Josh was ridiculous and that a towel just wasn't going to cut it.

"You know, I gotta talk to Megan about the _onion dip_," Drake said hastily, spotting his little sister smiling smugly as she stood next to Christine. She only let out a tiny yelp as Drake attacked her and forced her through the swinging door into the kitchen while he pushed on her shoulders.

"Problem?" Megan asked, hand on hip, when they were settled next to the island covered in assorted snacks and drinks. She had a tone to her voice that was all too recognizable, but he was too freaked out to notice.

"I told you to keep them all apart!" Drake exclaimed with exasperation lacing his words.

"I know."

"Then what happened?"

"I got them all together."

"You're an evil, _evil_ little girl," Drake spat out, gesturing with his half-empty glass of limeade.

"Hey, look who's catching on," Megan replied happily, grabbing for his glass. She took it off his hands and strolled out of the kitchen, pleased with the havoc she had caused. It truly wasn't a good day in her mind unless one of her brothers was miserable.

Drake, all too aware of this annoying habit of Megan's, could only stand in despair before turning on his heel. He walked forward to see all three girls in the living room, chatting and laughing in a way that didn't settle the queasiness in his stomach. All he could do was audibly groan as he tried to distance himself as far away as possible.

It turned out to be trickier than he planned though; the living room was filled with people, but Drake felt like his ears were trained to catch every giggle that came from the trio of girlfriends near the kitchen. He even tried to reason with Gavin, but all Gavin wanted to know was how tall his mom was and Drake was busy trying to deal with his own problems; like the fact that his band mates were convinced that the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon.

"This concert's not gonna happen."

"C'mon man, don't say that all right?" Drake told them, backing away from the snack table. "You know how important this concert is to us? Besides, it's not even raining that hard out – look, look I think it's lightening up!"

He ran past the table, past the giggling girlfriends, past the kitchen and walked out the door only to be met with cold, wet rain. Drake stood there for a moment, letting the heavy precipitation run cold through his clothes before getting the sense to walk back inside.

"I got wet."

--

Drake knew the layout of the house like the back of his hand, but when the power went out, it certainly didn't make things easier for him as he slowly ascended the stairs. He held tight on to the banister and the towel Audrey had wrapped around his shoulders and concentrated on making it to his room in one piece. Drake could feel his toes squish in his drenched socks and longed to get out of the shoes as quickly as possible.

Walking down the long hallway, Drake let out a quiet sigh of relief when he reached his bedroom. With some more slow steps, he was able to make his way toward Josh's bed without falling off the landing. He dropped to his knees and felt around underneath his brother's bed until he found what he was looking for – a flashlight. Drake felt more at ease when the light illuminated large ovals around the room and he made his way quickly to the drawers by his bed. He rifled through its contents before settling on a brown shirt, jeans, and a pair of dry boxers as he laid the clothes out on the empty space on the nearby desk.

Before getting undressed though, Drake pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and made sure it was still all right; it looked as though there had been no water damage to it, but to test it out, he decided to make a call.

"Hey, it's me. Thought maybe you'd take a study break and answer my call, but I guess not. The power is out over here and it's raining so hard, there's no way the concert is happening. Which sucks…so um, Craig and Eric are over here and I asked them how to stop the rain, but you're smarter than them, so maybe you can call me back and let me know? Walter got the weather wro - "

"Drake?"

Letting out a surprised yelp, Drake managed to shut his cell phone and tug the rest of his black t-shirt off before turning around. Grabbing the flashlight, he pointed it in the direction of the door and managed to accidentally blind Carly for a moment.

"Hey, what are ya….what are you doing here?" Drake asked, stumbling over his words.

"Just came to see you," Carly replied simply. With the help of the flashlight, she was able to make her way over to where he was. She lifted the dry clothes he had picked out and perched herself on the desk while Drake set the flashlight back on top of his dresser. "Thought maybe you'd need a little help getting dried off."

She hooked her foot around the back of his leg to pull him closer and Drake unexpectedly fumbled and hit his thigh against the edge of the desk. He only groaned slightly at the pain when Carly brought their lips together, but she took the sound to mean something completely different.

"Carly…mmmph, Carly!" Drake said as he untangled himself from the grip she held around his waist. "Everybody's downstairs."

"So?"

"So, they're going to think something's up if both me and you are missing."

"Something _is_ up," Carly pointed out, dragging her fingers along the bare skin near his waistband. He was glad that in the semi-darkness, she couldn't see the faint blush creeping up his neck. "Besides, isn't that half the fun?"

"Not when your mom and half the school can catch you," Drake muttered, working his fingers quickly over the buttons on the damp oxford shirt. "Maybe when everybody has left or something."

Carly sat in silence, watching as he slid out of the striped button down and grabbed the brown t-shirt from her grip before tugging that over his head. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, why don't you go run downstairs and giggle a little more with Lucy and Christine?" Drake spat out, a little more venom in his words than he originally intended. He saw her visibly blanch at his statement before narrowing her eyes.

"Oh so now you're mad at _me_?"

"Why won't you tell me what you guys are giggling at?!"

"Well, I was _going_ to tell you," Carly said as she slid off the desk. "But now I guess you'll have to wait. Maybe after everybody has left or _something_." He winced when she shoved the rest of his clothes on to his chest and then watched as she stalked off toward the door, before slamming it shut and leaving him angry, confused, and still in wet jeans.

Ten minutes later, Drake was in dry clothes but not any less irritated then he was upstairs. Carly kept throwing him glances, _evil_ little glances amongst the giggling and Drake couldn't work up the nerve to confront them all again. He tried directing his attention to the weird crankable television the nerds had set up, but a phone call from Josh gained importance over Walter's outside weather segment.

Running into the kitchen, Drake hit a button on his cell and put it swiftly up to his ear. "Hey Josh, Josh, tell me what's going on man."

"_Drake, you guys are still at the house, right?"_

"Yeah and the power's out too. What's happening?"

"_I'm sorry man, but the concert's cancelled. The whole stage is underwater and I've been sitting in the parking lot for almost two hours. I'm so hungry dude, I had like no lunch."_

"Which car did you take?"

"_Ours, why?"_

"I'm not sure, but I think there's some Popples in the glove box and there might be a Megathon bar under the passenger's seat."

"_Okay, hang on….all right, well there's an empty Popples box in the glove box annnnd….the Megathon bar is half-eaten. Thanks a lot Drake!"_

"Hey man, it's better than nothing! Just think when you get home, there's tons of food left over from the party. Sandwiches, limeade, cupcakes, potato chips…"

"_Dude, you're killing me here. I gotta go, traffic looks like it might be moving."_

"Okay man, see you later."

Drake hit the red end button his phone just in time to hear Helen say, "Well I guess we're all stuck here 'til the streets unflood."

"Doesn't matter anymore," Drake interrupted before he made his way back into the living room. He proceeded to relay the news Josh had given him, much to the disappointment of not only his band, but also everyone in the room. He tried to chalk it up to the storm, but Drake had a feeling this night was only just starting to get worse.

--

Craig (or maybe Eric, he wasn't sure) was hanging from the roof, bound by wet rope and a sick loyalty to Drake's demands. As everyone gathered around the window, unsure of how to address the nerd hanging from the roof situation, Drake thought it would be a perfect opportunity to pester the girls again about their behavior. If he couldn't perform with his band before The Sparks tonight, then getting information from the girls was the only thing that made him think something about this night could go right. Drake listened at the swinging door and the sound of laughter enraged him enough to push open the door and barge right in.

"All right, I can't take it anymore! I wanna know what you guys were talking about and why it made you giggle!"

"Drake, calm down!" Christine said, not being able to hide the giggle in her words.

"Tell me what you guys were giggling about!" Drake exclaimed, frustrated. Lucy smiled, turning her head toward Carly while Christine followed suit.

"Well, _you're_ the current girlfriend," Lucy said knowingly and Drake couldn't help bur wonder what on earth that meant.

"Tell him," Christine added, only furthering his curiosity.

"Okay," Carly conceded and she began to make her way to Drake as she slid her hand along the edge of the island. "We were giggling because we were talking about guys who are good kissers and we all agree that you're the best."

"Yeah, well I don't think that's any - " Drake started saying angrily, using his hand to gesture at the three girls before he noticed that they were all making their way toward him. But something clicked in his head as he began to understand what Carly was telling him. He couldn't help but smile as he returned both hands back on his slender hips. "Really?"

"Uh huh," Christine smiled sweetly.

"You got serious lip talent," Lucy agreed and Drake began to appreciate the fact that she was never one to hide behind the facts.

"It's true," Carly added, albeit begrudgingly. He was reminded of their argument from earlier, but he pushed that thought out of his head when he focused on the fact that three gorgeous girls were all in agreement of how great his kissing was (not that he ever really had any doubt, but it was nice to hear).

"So…I'm like, a really awesome kisser," Drake said, making his way over to the stool that sat near the counter. He crossed his legs and hoped that the girls would keep saying more nice things to him.

"Oh yeah."

"Pretty much."

"Yeah."

So far, so good; sometimes, Drake's own good luck even surprised _him_. "Wow."

"So…now that we told you," Carly began; each girl simultaneously began to make her way closer to where he was sitting.

"Yeah?" Drake asked, dozens of thoughts going through his head. How much luck would he be able to get out of this situation?

"Which one of us is the best kisser?" Lucy asked bluntly. That trait of hers that Drake had been admiring only mere moments ago turned sour as he mentally reeled back and looked at each girl.

"Huh?"

"C'mon!"

"It's only fair."

"Yeah, tell us."

Drake had a feeling this was about to turn into a _bad_ situation very quickly and he felt himself trip over his words as he began to stand up and inch his way toward the door.

"Well…c'mon, would you really wanna ask me when…you can ask someone much more…like, uh…" Drake stuttered as he felt his back bump into the door. His only hope was to distract them from giving him the death look that was fixated on each face. "_RYAN SEACREST!_"

Drake escaped, just barely; as each girl turned to see what he was pointing at, he made a smooth getaway into the living room and made a beeline toward the snack table. He welcomed the easy conversation with his band mates as Crazy Steve yelled something about Dora the Explorer near the crankable television.

--

"Why didn't you say I was the best kisser?"

Drake jumped when he heard her soft voice, almost dropped the tiny cell phone he'd been holding. He had gone upstairs to his room for a little peace and quiet; it was news to him that he'd been followed by Carly.

"Geez Carly, you gotta stop doing that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Answer the question," She said evenly, moving from her spot by the doorframe toward where he was sitting on the couch. He set his phone down and fiddled with the flashlight on the coffee table as she took her seat next to him.

"Um, what?"

"Why didn't you say I was the best kisser?" Carly repeated, brushing some of her wavy brown hair out of her eyes. She waited in semi-darkness as he tried to avoid eye contact with her.

_Because you're not_, Drake thought to himself. He might as well have said it out loud though; he could hear the anger rising in her voice when she spoke again.

"What is _up_ with you lately? You've been so distant, you're always on the phone," Carly listed, using her fingers to emphasize her point. "You constantly break dates; that is, when you bother to show up at all."

"Baby, I can explain - "

"That's the problem Drake. You're _always_ explaining. There's excuse after excuse…I know that we're kind of on-again, off-again, but this is pretty low, even for you."

He couldn't argue with that, so he looked down at his knees and used his hand to rub on a knot that was forming in his neck. "I know."

"I can't be with someone who isn't honest with me. You knew that from the beginning," Carly reminded him. Drake nodded numbly; he remembered all the hoops he had to jump through to prove to Carly just how honest he was. It had only been a few months since then, but he had changed; they both had. Even before Mindy, whatever this relationship was in the beginning just wasn't the same anymore.

"Lately, I just feel like your life is one whole big mystery and I just don't see the point in sticking around. So here's your out Drake; consider us officially broken up. For good." Carly stood up and made her way toward the door, forcing herself not to look at him as she used the back of her hand to wipe an errant tear that was sliding down her cheek.

"Hey Carly?"

She paused in the doorway, unsure if it was wise to turn around. She decided against it, but still allowed herself to hear him anyway. "Yeah?"

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

The only response he got was the sound of her quiet footsteps walking down the hallway. He grabbed for his guitar that was resting against the armchair from earlier in the day and couldn't stop the cringe that shot through his body when he heard the front door slam shut.

--

Dating Drake Parker was…interesting.

They were hushed tones, concealed kisses, and secret meeting places. It exhilarated Mindy, made her feel deliciously reckless for the first time in her life and it was a feeling she clung to when they were alone and away from prying eyes. Her parents had too many questions and Cathy knew _something_ was up, but for once Mindy didn't feel like she had to dignify her actions by having a smart answer for everything. If this was stupid, she turned a blind eye to that thought and relished in the fact that Drake was hers for the time being.

Well, not _all_ hers. Carly was still in the picture, much to Mindy's not so secret displeasure. But Carly was Drake's cover, an on/off thing, he insisted. Nothing serious, nothing to worry about. She knew that deep down and was beginning to make peace with it. That didn't mean she had to like it though.

Mindy gave up trying to make sense of Carly though; it's not like she could call Drake out on it and say that he was cheating on her with the popular, pretty girl. If anything, _Mindy_ was the girl that Carly should hate, should confront Drake about his running around behind her back. The whole situation made her head hurt like that time she worked on her photon cannon for ten hours without a break; Mindy decided it was best to just forget about it and take his sweet kisses as they came.

However, one thing that she liked about Drake was his quiet unpredictability. He had a way of being surprisingly sweet and it was hard to remember what it was about him that had made her skin crawl only a few months before. The Drake Parker she knew before was a vague, distant memory that was being softly erased by a boy who made her feel like someone other than Mindy Crenshaw, scary genius. And for that, she would always be grateful.

It was late when she heard a knock on the front door, loud enough to startle her from her unplanned nap on the living room couch. Disoriented, Mindy pushed aside strewn papers, filled with notes, and reached for her cell phone; the time read out 10:45 pm. She stood up from the plaid couch and stretched her arms as she made her way into the foyer, the sound of her sock-covered feet padding quietly over polished, wooden floors.

Opening the door, she widened her eyes at the late night visitor. "Drake, what are you doing here?"

"We broke up," Drake said bluntly, running a hand through his hair. "Carly and I, we…well, she really…I mean…" He sighed and stuck his hand back in his pocket. "We broke up."

"For real?"

"Yeah, for real," he replied, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "So um…I just thought you should know. I'm officially not dating anybody else."

"Well, that's good to know," Mindy answered diplomatically.

"That's good to _know_?" Drake repeated incredulously. "You know, I'm kind of putting my reputation on the line here by breaking up with Carly and not publicly dating anybody else and that's all you have to say? _That's good to know?_"

"Well, I didn't tell you to break up with Carly," she responded, bristling at his implications. "Date whoever you want, see what I care!"

"I don't want to!" Drake exclaimed back, taking them both by surprise. Mindy's eyes went wide as she put her finger to her lips before pointing up to the second floor. He got the message and lowered his voice. "I mean…I don't really think that I've met any girls lately that I…want to be with. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," Mindy answered, sounding as surprised as Drake felt. She was stunned that he even felt that he had to ask, but there he was laying all his cards out on the table for her.

"Good. So I'm gonna go now. Josh is making me pick him up some things from Schneider's Bakery."

"They have good cupcakes there," Mindy informed him, letting a small smile play at her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes they do," Drake agreed and hoped that Josh had given him enough money to buy a few of his own. He looked into Mindy's eyes and a tiny wave of embarrassment rolled through him as he spun on his heel and began to make his way toward the car.

She wanted to say something, wanted to call out after him before he made it all the way to the driveway. His words were still reeling through her mind and she weighed out their full meaning as she tried to logically make sense of the whole thing. Noticing that he was less than a foot away from his car, Mindy stepped back into the house and began to close the door as she continued to be lost in thought.

The knocking startled her again, only not as much as it had a few moments before. She had barely made five steps when she heard the noise and could barely contain her smile when she threw the door open for the second time that night.

"Yes?" Mindy managed to say upon greeting Drake again.

"Forgot something."

Well-thought out plans just weren't Drake's style, Mindy realized when his palm cupped the back of her head and their lips met warmly with only a slight bumping of their noses. Things were always a little messy, a little unpredictable and Mindy was learning every day how easy it was to roll with the punches that Drake threw her way.

* * *


	12. The Right Direction

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

**Summary:** Drake and Mindy can't stand each other, but are forced to work together when Mrs. Hafer assigns them a project. Their newfound friendship turns into something more and it takes everything they have to keep it a secret from everybody, _especially_ Josh.

* * *

**(a few weeks after the storm)**

Warm sunshine spread over the vast expanse of Belleview High's football field. Drake made his way across it during lunch hour, toward the patch of woods that bordered the boundaries of the school's perimeter. His dark blue shirt felt weighted and hot on his chest, but he stuck his hands in his pockets and soldiered on, occasionally glancing around to see if anybody spotted him. He seemed to be in the clear.

When Drake reached his destination (an old oak tree with carvings riddled on faded bark), he stopped and smiled.

"I was supposed to meet my girlfriend here, but Little Red Riding Hood took her place."

"If you're going to tease, I can pack up this nice picnic," Mindy replied, mock upset in her tone as she crossed her arms. "The red shirt was just a coincidence."

Drake plopped onto the blanket and stretched his legs out in front of him. He balanced on one hand and simultaneously kissed the side of Mindy's cheek as a better way of greeting her. "Hey, if you're Little Red Riding Hood, does that mean I'm the Big Bad Wolf?"

His breath was warm against the crook of her neck and she tried to hide the involuntary shudder that ran up her spine as he nuzzled his nose over the bottom of her earlobe. Mindy pulled away and looked into his smiling brown eyes before kissing the apple of his freckled cheek.

"That all depends."

"On what?"

"I don't know how many big, bad wolves like chocolate pudding."

"Awesome!" Drake exclaimed before his voice dropped to a serious tone. "You know, you can't even _be_ a wolf unless you like pudding."

"Well aren't you in luck then," Mindy said, pulling the dessert out of her brown paper bag. She pressed their lips together for a quick kiss before he greedily stole the pudding cup out of her hand as she passed him a spoon.

"Mmm, good pudding," Drake mumbled when he took his first bite. Mindy pulled out her ham sandwich and the two of them ate in hungry silence for a few minutes as they soaked in their quiet surroundings.

"So, what are you up to tonight?" Mindy asked, halfway through her sandwich.

"Bad Movie Tuesday with Josh after school. It's his turn to pick the movie, so I don't know what we're seeing yet. You?"

"Science Club and then Cathy's supposed to come over so we can study for our math test. What about Thursday?"

"Um…band practice, and that takes a couple hours. Why, what's up?" Drake asked as he tried to grab her sandwich for a bite; all he got was a light slap on the wrist.

"Your sandwich is in the bag," Mindy told him and laughed at the way his eyes lit up before diving into the paper sack. She was quiet again and they could both hear the sounds of his chewing before she spoke up again. "I was just thinking…we could go on a date sometime."

Drake paused, mid-chew. "We do go on dates."

"Well…yeah," Mindy conceded. "But I meant an actual date where we go somewhere besides the back row of a movie at The Premiere. Somewhere where we can enter and leave _together_ and we won't have to hide."

"An actual date," Drake repeated, swallowing the bite of sandwich in his mouth. He looked down at the blanket and thought it over before responding. "Are you just using pudding and ham sandwiches to get your way?"

"Is it working?"

"Are you free Saturday?"

He took her enthusiastic kiss to mean a big, fat yes.

--

Later that afternoon, the boys stumbled out of Theater 8 at The Premiere, laughing and giggling at the horrible movie they'd just endured.

"Could that dialogue have been _any_ worse?" Josh asked rhetorically, wiping away at the tear that was starting to form in the corner of his eye.

"It's still not as bad as 'Bomb Shells'," Drake pointed out as they made their way toward the candy counter. "Not even supermodels could make that movie interesting."

"True that," Josh agreed. He was about to elaborate, but he felt his cell phone start to vibrate in his pocket. "Hang on, I'll be right back."

He stepped away from the counter to take the call from Eric, who was trying to confirm their plans to visit the planetarium this weekend. Eric started going on a tangent about how Craig wanted to go play laser tag instead, even though he knew the dust messed with Eric's asthma. That was when Josh knew that he had to cut the phone call short.

"I'm really sorry Eric, but I gotta get going…no, I don't think showing Craig your asthma prescription will help, but you do what you think is best…uh huh, yeah. Okay, bye Eric!" Josh slammed the tiny phone shut and walked his way back to Drake, who was now joined by an attractive blonde.

"…I would love to, but I don't think my girlfriend would like that," Drake was saying as Josh got closer. "Too bad, because I'm sure that we could've had something special."

Josh rolled his eyes when he heard that, but the girl seemed to buy it and she was gone by the time he reached his stepbrother's side.

"What was that all about?" Josh asked, gesturing toward the girl with his head.

"I don't know, some girl asking me out. No big deal," Drake assured him. "Hey, do you think you can get us some free soda?"

"You turned down a date? By saying you had a girlfriend?" Josh asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought you and Carly were broken up."

"You know how Carly is. One week she hates me and the next I'm like the best boyfriend ever."

"But you turned down a _date_," Josh emphasized. Clearly, Drake wasn't getting the point, but that was nothing he wasn't used to already. "When have you _ever_ turned down a date, regardless of girlfriend status?"

"I turn down dates all the time. When you're not looking," Drake replied, uncomfortable as to where this was going. "C'mon, Helen's not working and you can snag some sodas for us. Unless you want me to drink from the soda nozzle again."

"Why do you have to be so unsanitary?" Josh grumbled, horrified at the thought of improper nozzle usage.

He walked over to the area behind the counter and Drake couldn't help but feel like he'd just narrowly gotten away with things. It was a feeling he was getting all too comfortable with these days.

--

The night was balmy as ever, sun sliding in to the horizon as twilight settled over the majority of San Diego. Josh stood on Lisa's porch, giving the door an easy knock as he waited. He heard quiet footsteps on the other side but his smile fell when he saw her on the other side.

"Lisa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied, using the back of her hand to wipe her red cheek. Her eyes were glassy and swollen and her smile looked fake as Josh came in to the house while she shut the door behind him.

"You look upset," Josh pressed on. He'd never seen her like this, unraveled and looking as though she was going to fall apart. He wanted to comfort her, lend an ear if he could; he'd always been good at that kind of thing.

"I'm fine, really," Lisa assured him, waving her hand as if to dismiss the topic. To prove her point, she stood on tiptoe to graze his lips with a light kiss. "I just bumped my foot into the table and it really hurt. Seriously, my pain threshold is like…non-existent. Do you want a Mountain Fizz or something?"

"Okay," he said, still wary. "Uh, yeah, sure. That'd be great."

He slid off his jacket and hung it in the coat closet as she made her way into the kitchen. He heard the sounds of her rummaging in the refrigerator as he pulled out a dvd from his coat pocket before he shut the closet door.

"So I brought over _Blues Brothers_," Josh mentioned as he walked into the kitchen. "I figured we could watch it after OR."

"Sure, sounds cool."

"It took me awhile to find it. Drake claimed he didn't know where it was, but I found it in the mini-fridge behind some chip dip."

"Why would it be…"

"I don't know," Josh replied dejectedly and he returned the smile that she gave him. Lisa handed him the cold, soda-filled glass and they both made their way to the living room, eager for another exciting installment of OR.

"How was your movie with Drake?" Lisa asked when they settled on the couch.

"Awful. It was great," Josh answered when she flicked the television on. They sat in silence, watching a few blaring commercials. The instrumental for the theme song blared from the speakers, signaling the beginning of OR. Josh, however, was more preoccupied with Lisa's hand, which was currently sliding over his thigh. "Lisa?"

"Josh, I want you to kiss me."

Something in her voice made him oblige willingly, but he only meant to make it a light thing; after all, OR was coming on and they were finally supposed to find out the results of Dr. Mary Deth's pregnancy test and just who Georgie O'Malley had bought that engagement ring for.

All of that flew out of his head because she started doing that thing with her tongue that made him moan a little louder than he intended. O'Malley who? Pregnancy test what? It didn't matter because Lisa was crawling into his lap and his brain was starting to short circuit when her fingers started playing with his belt buckle.

"Lisa…what…why…" Josh asked, his voice breathy and shallow against her lips before she started mouthing her way down the curve of his neck. They shared a look that quieted anything else that was threatening to come out of his mouth.

"I just…need you," Lisa whispered and Josh couldn't have said anything even if he wanted to. His mouth went dry before he nodded and he let her continue with what she needed to do.

--

**(Saturday Night)**

Drake's fingers skimmed over the last of his buttons on his wine colored oxford shirt before sliding his lanky arms into his black pinstripe blazer. He was taking a few moments to check himself out in the full-length mirror when he saw Megan saunter in the room out of the corner of his eye.

"Wow, looking pretty fancy. For a boob," she added quickly, a smirk playing at her lips. Drake ignored her as he ran his fingers through his hair one last time.

"Did Mom and Walter leave for their dinner yet?" He asked, turning to face his little sister.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's a lot easier to steal Walter's emergency credit card if he's not here," Drake explained, slipping his feet into his loafers.

"Why do you need that? Just take some of Josh's money."

"Because I'm going to Chez Amour. And…Josh took his wallet to the laser planetarium or wherever he said he was going."

"Whoa, Chez Amour? Who are you taking there?" Megan asked, taking it upon herself to sprawl out on the dilapidated, rose colored couch.

"None of your business," he snapped as he grabbed a tie hanging from the ladder to his loft bed. He looped it around into a reasonable looking knot, trying to avoid his little sister's inquisitive eyes.

Megan paused, trying to give him a once over. Thinking it over, she realized that something seemed off. "Are you taking Carly? I thought you guys broke up."

"We did," Drake replied absent-mindedly and then immediately realized his mistake. He tried to back pedal as quickly as he could, while throwing his car keys into his pocket. "I mean, sort of. Not really. Why are you here?"

"I came to bug Josh, but you're a good replacement," she answered cheekily, resting her head on her hand. She took notice of the fact that he looked twitchy and that intrigued her. Due to a certain weather broadcast, all of San Diego knew of Josh's nervous, twitchy habits (all thanks to her). But to see Drake like this…it was something Megan put away in the back of her mind to investigate later.

"Too bad, I'm leaving," Drake told her, making his way toward the door. He paused in the doorway, taking one last look at Megan. "Just…try not to do anything _too_ evil."

"We both know I'm not going to make promises like that."

--

**(Chez Amour)**

"Are you okay?" Mindy asked, after they sat at their table. She laid her napkin across her dark blue skirt and tried to read him, wondered what was going through his mind. They had spent the car ride over listening to AC/DC being blasted over the speakers, quelling the little conversation they did have. It wasn't like Drake to shut her out and she was worried.

"What? Yeah. I'm fine," Drake answered simply, nodding to the waiter who had given them their menus. "Why, are you okay?"

"I'm okay too."

"Good."

"Good."

More silence and they used it to crack open their menus and peruse the items listed. She had been here a few times before with her parents, but it obviously wasn't the same as being here on a date and Mindy wanted to make the best out of the situation. She made her decision quickly and folded the menu close before setting it down on the cream tablecloth. She looked up to see Drake frowning at whatever he was reading.

"Having trouble with something? Just sound it out," Mindy teased as he looked up to make eye contact.

"They have snails. To _eat_," Drake pointed out, sounding slightly horrified.

"Well, it is a French restaurant. They're a delicacy in France."

"Have you ever eaten one?" he asked, looking back down at the menu.

"A few times, but they're not my favorite or anything. They kind of taste like balloons," Mindy said, the memory of the odd food filling her mouth. He fell quiet again and she found herself gazing around the restaurant, mind racing as she tried to think of things to talk about.

The waiter appeared then, breaking another awkward silence between the two. He quickly took their orders and seemed to scurry back to the kitchen to place the order.

"So…" Drake said once the waiter left. He placed his hands in his lap and began to twiddle his thumbs in a nervous habit.

"So," Mindy replied, unable to think of anything original to say. She felt utterly relieved when the sound of her phone could be heard. "Sorry, hang on a sec!" She quickly pulled her phone out of her tiny, beaded purse. "Hello?"

"_Hello dear! How are you doing?"_

"Fine mom, I'm doing fine."

"_Good, good. What are you up to?"_

"Just grabbing some dinner with Cathy," Mindy lied smoothly, keeping her eyes on Drake. He seemed to be totally involved in playing with his silverware. "Taking a little study break, that's all."

"_What are you girls studying?"_

At that particular moment, Drake's hand dropped hard on the fork so that it flew in an impressive arc behind him. She cringed as they both watched it collide with the waiter walking behind Drake's chair.

The waiter, blindsided by the fork, swerved and spilled cake all over the woman at the next table. She, in turn let out a sidesplitting shriek that seemed to cause the entire restaurant to pause.

"_Mindy? Dear, is everything all right?"_

"Yeah, mom. Uh, sorry, we're studying physics. I gotta go, Cathy is applying some of our studying on the waiters. I'll call you later."

Mindy hastily hung up the phone to see Drake heatedly involved in an argument with the befuddled and angry waiter. Before she could understand what anybody was saying, Drake's voice ran out loud and clear.

"Fine! I don't want your stupid snail balloons anyway!" Drake exclaimed before storming off toward the exit.

All Mindy could do was shrug apologetically before rushing off to catch up with him.

--

"Drake!" Mindy called out desperately, walking quickly out Chez Amour. He had a slight advantage on her and her heels weren't helping. "Drake! Come on, slow down please! We can talk about this!"

"Talk about what?" Drake spat out, turning to face her. He was standing in the middle of the parking lot and she tried her best to catch up quickly.

"Talk about what just happened," she replied, finally standing in front of him. Wind brushed over both of them then and it felt cold over her flushed skin.

"Which part? The weirdness before dinner or the part where you're lying to your mom again?"

"What does lying to my mother have to do with anything?"

"I don't know," Drake replied, angrily combing his fingers through his hair. "I'm just sick of it, you know?"

"No, I don't," Mindy said gently, recognizing the frustrated look in his eyes. She reached for his hand and was comforted when he didn't pull away. "Tell me."

"Before dinner, Megan was bothering me. I got the idea that she might start snooping."

"Megan's_always_ snooping. That's just how she is."

"And believe me, no one knows that better than me and Josh," Drake told her emphatically as they began to walk to his car. "You didn't see the look in her eyes."

"So, I'll just tell her to back off. She likes me."

"She thinks we hate each other. It won't do any good," Drake rationalized. "I'm just tired of all this lying."

"You?"

"Yeah. It's just getting harder," Drake replied, a slight whine in his voice. They reached the car and he slouched against the trunk. "Now that Megan thinks something's up, there's only a matter of time before it all blows up in our faces. And Josh has been having some problems with Lisa lately. It was all I could do to convince him to go out with Craig and Eric tonight."

"So what are you saying Drake?" Mindy asked anxiously, very aware of the fact that her stomach felt like it was going to drop out at any moment.

"I think we should tell Josh."

Mindy stood, blinking for a moment, before choosing to sit next to him on the fender. "Are you serious?"

Drake shrugged as he used his toe to make little piles of the gravel that was scattered all over the dark pavement. "We keep waiting and waiting Mindy. I don't think it's doing us any good. I mean, what are we afraid of?"

Mindy shrugged and watched his feet before looking up to give him a smile. "Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Okay, let's tell him. You're probably right."

"Can I get that in writing somewhere?" Drake joked, letting out a little laugh. She gave him another smile and he felt his expression soften. "What?"

"You always surprise me. Even when I hated you," Mindy told him, letting out a sigh. "Even then, you were always different than what I first thought."

"Yeah, well don't go spreading that around."

"Never."

--

Drake snuck in as quietly as he could through the bedroom window a few hours later. He was surprised to find the lights still on and when he stood upright, he was even more surprised to see Josh still awake, as he lay sprawled out on his bed.

"Josh? What's up man?"

"Lisa and I broke up."


	13. Our Hiding Is Routine

**Author's Notes: ** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

**Summary:** Drake and Mindy can't stand each other, but are forced to work together when Mrs. Hafer assigns them a project. Their newfound friendship turns into something more and it takes everything they have to keep it a secret from everybody, _especially_ Josh.

* * *

**(flashback – the Saturday of Drake & Mindy's big date)**

Josh didn't expect a visit from her that night as he was wiping down the candy counter at The Premiere, but he got a kick out of seeing Lisa walk toward him.

"Hey, I finish my shift in a couple of minutes," Josh told her when she got close. "Did we have plans tonight?"

"Um, no," Lisa replied quietly, looking down at her hands. "I…wanted to see you."

"Oh. Well, hang on, I'll go punch out."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna sit over there," Lisa told him, gesturing toward the booths near the food counter. He nodded, but didn't really pay attention to the way she was nervously twirling the ends of her hair as she sauntered in the opposite direction.

She was still nervously twirling her hair when Josh appeared at the table ten minutes later, grin splayed across his face in a way that broke her heart. She closed her eyes when he kissed her cheek in greeting and didn't open them until he was seated across from her.

"What's up?"

"I need to tell you something, something I've been putting off all week, and I don't know how to say it and I'm pretty sure you're going to hate me - "

"Whoa, slow down Lisa," Josh interrupted. "What happened?"

She looked down at the pattern on the plastic table and traced it with her finger, making sure to avoid eye contact. Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke. "My parents are getting divorced."

"I'm sorry Lisa," Josh told her softly and even though she couldn't look at him, she could tell his smile had disappeared from the way his voice sounded. He laid his hand over her own and let the tips of his fingers brush the inside of her palm. "Is there anything I can –"

"No," Lisa broke in, looking up and into his worried blue eyes. "We have to break up."

He pulled his hand back sharply as his eyes widened, just like she had imagined so many times over the past week. "Um, what?!"

"Yeah, my mom is moving in with her sister. In Florida," Lisa told him bitterly. "Gavin's staying here with my dad and she wants me to go with her."

"But what about your life? What about _us_?"

"Josh, you've been the best part about my life for the past couple of months," she admitted, leaning back into the seat of their booth. "And as clichéd as it sounds, it's not you, it's me –"

"Don't say that," Josh told her as he crossed his arms over his chest. He felt hollowed out inside and he had to suppress the urge to throw something. "Why are you really leaving?"

"I haven't been happy at school for so long and obviously, things weren't working out at home. You know those date nights we would have watching OR?" Josh nodded. "That's when my parents would be seeing their marriage counselor. It's gotten to the point where my mom thinks the new environment could be good for me and she might be right."

"That doesn't mean we have to break up though," Josh reasoned. "I mean, there's the phone and email and I could totally come visit you. I've had some trouble with the airport since Drake and I tried to send Megan to Colorado, but it's what, a four, five-day car trip? I'm sure I could find a way –"

"Josh…"

"And what about school? You can't just up and leave in the middle of your junior year, what kind of _crazy_ sense does that make?"

"Well, my semester ends for winter break at the end of this week."

"No, it ends next week."

"Yeah, for Belleview High. I end this week," Lisa pointed out. "I'm using the weekend to pack and we're leaving on Monday."

"So that's it then," Josh stated in a way that held no question. He slowly took in a deep breath and slid out of the booth.

"Wait, Josh - "

But he kept walking. If Lisa was going to end it so calmly, Josh wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of showing her how he really felt.

--

**(the first day of Belleview's school vacation – a week after Josh & Lisa's breakup)**

"Tell me why we're here again?" Josh asked one afternoon, following Drake as they navigated their way through the vast walkway of The Premiere Mall.

"I'm sick of listening to your crappy music while you stare at the wall and do nothing," Drake told him, his attention briefly caught by a group of cute sophomore girls. "You haven't left the house all week except to go to school and work and it's just sad, man."

"Well, who asked you?" Josh grumbled as he stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets. They passed store after brightly lit store and he was bored out of his mind. He wanted to crawl back into bed as soon as possible, but he wasn't going to admit to his brother the change in scenery was slightly nice. "Where are we going anyway? The guitar store as at the other end of the mall."

"I know, we'll stop by there later. I have to get a present," Drake answered off-handedly as they both fell into step with each other. "Oh, here we go."

They stopped in front of a place that was probably the last destination Josh would've had in mind. It was pink and purple, the sign had glitter all over it, and the window display was covered in fluffy things. Clearly, they were entering girl world.

"Here?"

"I won't tell anybody that you like to smell all the lip glosses."

Josh thought it over and gave a quick nod in agreement as they entered the store.

Ten minutes later, he found himself extremely frustrated with being shoved out of the way by exuberant little girls. He looked up to see Drake sauntering over to the cash register with a shiny piece of jewelry in his hand.

"What are you getting?" Josh asked when he met his brother at the counter.

"Nothing. A present…thing," Drake answered evasively, as he handed a wad of cash to the gum-snapping girl behind the counter.

"For Carly?"

"Sure, whatever."

"That's nice of you," Josh noted before pausing. "What's the catch?" Before Drake could respond, the salesgirl handed him the tiny pink bag.

"Thank you for shopping with us," she said in a bored monotone. "Please come again soon." She let out a particularly loud snap of her gum and went back to flipping through her _Spun_ magazine.

"Always a pleasure," Drake told her sarcastically and she waved a hand in his face as if to shoo him out. He spun on his heel and the two of them exited the store into the hustle of the people flooding the mall corridor.

"So what did you get?" Josh asked, following the direction Drake had picked.

"Nothing."

"Dude, I didn't even want to be here and you won't even let me know what you bought?"

Drake paused. "You know, the pet store is on the way to the guitar store."

"You never want to go to the pet store."

"Well, today I changed my mind."

"Are you changing the subject?"

Drake thought of the pink bag he was holding as they made their way around the food court. "Maybe."

Josh considered this answer and decided he didn't care. "All right, let's go see some puppies!"

--

**(a few days later, midweek of school vacation)**

The California sun was setting and creating lazy, hazy shadows across the furniture, giving the bedroom a warm glow. Drake looked out the window to see the sky splashed with reds and oranges before focusing his attention to the activity at hand.

"No, no, you're not gripping the handle right. Your thumbs need to point down, toward the ball."

"Remind me again why we're playing golf inside your bedroom?"

"Here, I'll show you," Drake offered, ignoring her question as he pushed himself off from the desk where he was perched. He walked around behind where Mindy was standing near the coffee table and slid his hands down the length of her arms. Gently forming her hands around the rubber putter handle, Drake held himself there for a few moments. "Just like this. Now swing back…yeah, that's good. Keep your arm bent." He pulled back and made sure to get out of the way. "Okay, now hit it!"

They watched as the tiny white golf ball sailed out the window and Mindy looked pretty proud of herself until they heard a familiar yelp.

"Oh my god, was that Josh?" Mindy asked in a whisper with panic darting through her eyes. Drake's eyes widened as they heard the front door open and feet begin to thump up the stairs.

"Hide!"

Throwing Drake the putter, she darted over to the loft where his bed sat and quickly hoisted herself onto the wooden beam while crawling fast into the space between his bed and the wall. Drake saw her foot disappear as Josh slammed the door open.

"Drake!"

"Josh! What are you…what are you doing home?"

Ignoring the question, Josh showed him the tiny golf ball he was holding. "Were you playing golf in here again?"

"No."

"You have a putter in your hand."

Drake looked at the putter in his white knuckled grip. "I meant yes."

"You gotta be more careful dude," Josh sighed, tossing him the ball. "I got knocked in the forehead this time. I'm probably gonna bruise." He turned on his heel and walked toward his bed, sliding off his jacket in the process. Drake gave another nervous glance over toward his own bed, but snapped his head the other boy cleared his throat.

"Don't you have to work or something?"

"Nah, I have the day off. I'm gonna go downstairs and watch this special the food channel is running on foods that could be either fruits or vegetables. This week is the tomato," Josh said happily, excited at the prospect of a food debate. "Wanna come watch?"

"No, I gotta practice my serve," Drake said lamely, gesturing with his putter.

"I don't think they serve in golf," Josh told him, making his way toward the door.

"Well, whatever it is, I gotta practice it."

"All right, whatevs. I'm making a pitcher of limeade if you change your mind."

Drake watched as the wooden, blue door clicked shut behind him and he let out a sigh of relief. "He's gone."

Mindy popped her head from the side of the bed and climbed so that she was sitting on top of the cushy mattress. "For the record, it's swing."

"What is?" Drake asked, making his way over to the loft's ladder.

"In golf. You're working on your golf swing," Mindy corrected him. She scooted over to make room for him as he plopped down next to her.

"Thanks, I'll remember that next time when I'm trying to get him out of the room," Drake said sarcastically as he dropped the putter next to the foot of the bed.

"I'm just saying," Mindy told him, folding her hands into her lap. The room became quiet enough that they could hear the faint sound of Josh's tomato special on the television downstairs. "So…here we are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When I saw you last week, you were all gung ho about telling Josh about us. Now I'm hiding from him?" Mindy asked, turning to look at him.

"I told you, when I came home, he had just broken up with Lisa. He's taking it really hard," Drake insisted as he ran a hand through his hair.

"He seems all broken up," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "What with hanging out with Craig and Eric all the time and being all excited for his tomato special."

"You didn't see him last week," Drake grumbled. "You didn't hear the crappy emo music I had to endure every night."

"Well, he seems better now. I've talked to him at Science Club; he doesn't mention anything at all about Lisa."

"What's your point Mindy?"

"It's probably never going to be a good time to tell him. Drake, I'm trying to respect your space, but I'm tired of keeping this a secret too. It's exhausting," she told him as she reached out for his hand. "Don't you think it's time we acted like a real couple?"

"We tried that last week," he reminded her. "It was…weird."

"We don't exactly have practice at being a real couple," she pointed out. "I always feel like we're lying and sneaking around. It would be nice to just get away from that for awhile." She dropped his hand to tuck her loose hair behind her ear. "But unless we tell him, that's not going to happen."

"Wait a minute," Drake said, an idea forming slowly in his head. "What if we could?"

"What if we could what?"

"Get away from it all for a bit."

"Oh yeah?" Mindy asked, looking at him incredulously. "And how do you propose we do that?"

"My Aunt Catherine's beach house. Why don't we go there this weekend?"

"What?"

"Yeah, c'mon Mindy. Aunt Catherine won't even be there. She and her husband moved to Florida or Utah or some place like that." A realization popped into his head. "That's probably why she gave the beach house to Megan. I can swipe the key from her."

"You're serious about this."

"Yeah, why not? We're on vacation all this week from school, so it's not like we have to worry about that. We can figure out some plan to tell our parents. You can tell your mom you're spending the night at Cathy's and I'll just say I'm gonna be at Trevor's or something."

"I don't know Drake…"

"Mindy, this is exactly what you're looking for, right? You were just saying all that stuff about being a real couple," Drake said. "So, let's do it! Let's get away from Josh and school and our parents and just be together. It'll be fun!"

"I can't even believe I'm considering this," Mindy admitted, smiling as she shook her head. "I've never just…picked up and left before."

"I know you're always so serious," Drake told her. "But I take my fun very seriously. You need to relax."

"Well you're so laid back, you're practically horizontal," Mindy shot back, but it didn't have the same bite it would have a couple months ago. "This is a crazy idea."

"But…"

"I just want to go on record as saying that. That this is a ridiculous idea and the amount of trouble we could get into could be awful."

"But…"

"Fine. I guess we could try," she conceded. She was rewarded with a small kiss, but she pulled away quickly. "We have to be so careful. We have tracks to cover and getting caught is out of the question…"

"So careful," Drake murmured quietly onto her cheek, gently guiding her back toward the brown, geometric print comforter that covered his mattress. "We're not going to get caught."

"I'm serious Drake. We need to make plans."

"We will. Lots of plans, all the plans you want to make."

"And we're not going to get caught?"

"We're not going to get caught." He tried not to notice the way the fabric of her skirt was riding up slightly, but he felt his mind blitz a little when she shifted underneath him.

"Promise me?"

Her deep, brown eyes were so wide and full of worry, that he would've said anything in that moment to calm her down. But Drake could tell how important this meant to her and he made sure to lock his eyes with her own.

"I promise."

Pressing his mouth against hers, he sealed his words with a kiss as he felt her give a hum of content. Drake couldn't help the spark of electricity that shot up his spine when the tips of his fingers grazed the underside of her bare thigh. But as quickly as they started, she put an end to it while accidentally knocking their foreheads together as she hastily sat up.

"Oh my god, what are we doing?" Mindy asked in a whisper-yell, not really looking for an answer. "Josh is right downstairs!" She watched as his hand rubbed his forehead. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live," Drake admitted before sighing. "Way to kill the mood Mindy."

"Drake…"

"I know, I know," he answered, waving his hand to cut off whatever she was going to say. "Forget about it."

"How am I supposed to get home without Josh seeing me downstairs?"

"C'mon, I'll show you how I sneak out," Drake said. He laughed when he saw the worried look on her face. "Don't worry, if you fall, the drop isn't _that_ bad. I've never broken any bones from it."

"Very reassuring," Mindy mumbled under her breath as she followed him toward the window.


	14. Shut Up & Drive

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

* * *

** (Thursday Night, Cathy's House)**

Mindy was sprawled out on the plush, beige carpet of her best friend's room with her ankles crossed as she tapped her pencil against the edge of her Chemistry book. She looked up to see Cathy with her back propped against the foot of her bed, deeply engrossed in the chapter they were both studying.

Or rather, _Cathy_ was studying. Mindy was currently thinking about how if Drake could see them now, he would just roll his eyes and make some snide comment about he couldn't _believe_ they were studying during vacation. It made her smile inwardly to hear his voice so clearly in her head, but a nervous feeling washed quickly over her; she was choosing tonight to tell Cathy everything and ask for a favor as well. Saying that there were butterflies in her stomach was a huge understatement as far as she was concerned.

"Did you find the answer for number fifteen?"

Mindy blinked, trying to get her focus back. "What? No, I don't think so."

"Mr. Roland wouldn't have assigned it if we couldn't answer it," Cathy reasoned as she flipped a few pages back. "But I've read the same five paragraphs over and over and I can't seem to find it."

"I'm sure it's in there," Mindy answered, figuring that now would be a good time to drop her news. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her book aside and sat up so she was sitting cross-legged. "Hey, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Cathy said, noticing the change in the other girl's tone. "What's up?"

"I've been keeping kind of a big secret from you," Mindy started and then winced when she realized how that sounded. "I mean, not _from_ you. I wanted to tell you Cath, but it just got too complicated and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, when have I ever had a bad idea, right? But it just got out of hand and-"

"Mindy. Spill it," Cathy interrupted, wanting to get right to the point.

"I've been kind of, sort of…secretly dating Drake." The pause following her confession sounded intensely deafening.

"Drake. Drake Parker?"

"Do you know any other?"

"Wow, Drake Parker," Cathy repeated and Mindy noticed the way her eyes got a little wider. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Since the end of that project I was helping him with. A couple months?" Mindy guessed. She paused, searching Cathy's face for…well, anything. "Come on Cathy. You're killing me here."

"I'm killing you? I'm still trying to register the news!" she exclaimed, setting her own Chemistry book aside. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honestly? I didn't think it would last this long," Mindy admitted. She looked down and absent-mindedly started outlining a pattern in the carpet with the tip of her finger. "We both didn't."

"Does Josh know?"

"Yes Cathy. I told my ex-boyfriend that I'm dating his brother _before_ I told you," Mindy said sarcastically. "Why do you think we kept it a secret in the first place?"

"Okay, no need to flip," Cathy replied. "You know it freaks me out when your eye does that weird twitchy thing." She readjusted in the way she was sitting before pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "So Josh doesn't know and you're secretly dating his brother, who also happens to be his best friend."

"Yes, thank you for the recap."

"That wasn't for you, it was for me. I'm still processing," Cathy said, mind racing. "So, give me details. What's it like dating Drake Parker?"

"Why do you keep saying his name like that?" Mindy asked, shifting her legs.

"I don't know. He's one of those of guys where his reputation precedes him. When you were dating Josh, you were always telling me how he treated his girlfriends like trash," Cathy reminded her.

"Not_always_."

"No, sometimes you would say that the reason he had so many girlfriends was because he had the mental capacity of a goldfish."

"Cathy, what's your point?"

"It wasn't that long ago when you hated him."

"I know. Things change."

"Obviously."

"So, what's going on?" Mindy asked after a pause. "Are you mad at me? I wouldn't blame you."

"No," Cathy sighed. "But…I'm a little hurt that you felt you had to keep it a secret from me."

"I didn't want to," Mindy answered, trying to sound reassuring. "But I was so scared of Josh finding out. We'd finally gotten back into a good place with our friendship and Drake didn't want to jeopardize his own relationship with him. With the three of us in Science Club together…it just seemed like a bad idea. I didn't want to put you in that position."

"I can understand that," Cathy conceded and Mindy felt a wave of compassion for her best friend. Sometimes, she forgot how reasonable the other girl could be. "But. You owe me."

"Absolutely. How?"

"Forget studying. You need to tell me what it's like dating Drake," Cathy responded, a sly grin stretching over her lips.

"You're dying to say Parker, weren't you?"

"Maybe," she replied and both girls giggled while Cathy pushed their books further away. "So…"

"It's great," Mindy said, feeling as though a weight was being lifted off her chest as she began to open up. "I mean, aside from hiding, it's pretty wonderful. It was nothing like I'd ever thought it would be; he's like a whole new person when we're together."

"Like how?"

"We don't fight as much anymore." Cathy's eyebrows shot up so high Mindy could hardly see them underneath her bangs. "I know, right? We argue, but it's about stupid stuff like who gets to pick the music in the car or who hangs up first."

"Ew, you're one of those couples," Cathy said, wrinkling her nose. "I thought you hated that."

"Oh I do. I felt pretty disgusted when we finally hung up," Mindy agreed. "But Cath, I was so happy, I didn't even care. Kind of scary, huh?"

"No, it's adorable. I mean if I had been there, I totally would've slapped you. But I'm sure it sounded cute," Cathy replied as she stood up. "Do you want to give each other manicures? My aunt got me a manicure set and I feel like we need to bond over nail polish fumes to make this girl talk awesome."

"Sure, go get it," Mindy agreed, laughing. She stretched out her arms as Cathy ran to the bathroom to get the set.

A few minutes later, they were both set up and Cathy was carefully applying a pretty light blue shade to Mindy's thumb.

"I wish I had some gum to snap," Cathy muttered and lifted the brush when Mindy giggled. "Don't laugh or you'll have blue skin too!"

"Well, stop making me laugh!" Mindy replied logically. They both fell silent while Mindy continued to watch the blue polish spread over long nails. It looked pretty and in the right light, she could even see some sparkles in there and she wondered absent-mindedly if Drake would like it, if he'd even notice. Before she could chide herself, Cathy spoke up.

"So what do you guys do in your secret relationship? How does that work?"

"I don't know. We just find ways to hang out together, I guess," Mindy answered. "We'll go to each other's houses after school when no one's home, we find places to go. The beach, the park, the guitar shop, the library-"

"You got him in a library?"

"We were both studying."

"You got him to _study_?"

Luckily, Cathy had finished her one hand and she felt no guilt in laughing. "Not like all the time or anything. It's just baby steps."

"That's huge," Cathy told her, starting to work on the other unpolished fingers. "I remember Josh telling us how for homework once, Drake just turned in a newspaper with his name written on it for current events. Doesn't sound like he'd know where the library was, if you ask me."

"I did have to tell him how to get there," Mindy admitted. "But we did try an actual date once."

"You don't sound excited."

"It was…awkward. We went to Chez Amour and I could just tell Drake was uncomfortable when we got there. We hardly talked at first and then I got a call from my mom. While I was answering that, Drake's fork flew into a waiter and the waiter spilled cake or something all over someone at another table. Next thing I know, Drake is yelling something about snail balloons and then he is storming out of the restaurant."

"Oh my god! Then what?"

"We talked in the parking lot and he tells me he wants to tell Josh and I figure why not? Maybe this dating thing will only get easier if Josh knows. Drake called me the next day to tell me that Josh's girlfriend had dumped him that night and there's no way he was going to tell Josh then. So, here we are."

"Wow. Sounds a lot better than your date with Craig," Cathy mused, brushing the final coat on Mindy's pinky finger. "At least I'm sure you got a better good night kiss out of the deal than with Craig."

As she shook her hand dry, Mindy felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and she pulled her knees up to her chest in an unconscious move to keep things inside. But the thing about Cathy was she always good at getting the truth out of a person.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Cathy continued, handing Mindy a purple bottle of polish. She unscrewed the cap and began making delicate lines on Cathy's thumb before remembering her favor.

"I need to ask you something," Mindy said and continued before the other girl could reply. "Would you be willing to cover for me this weekend?"

"Cover you how?"

"In case my parents call, would you mind having them believe that I was at your house?"

"But you're not going to be here, you're going to be…"

"At Drake's Aunt Catherine's beach house."

"You're spending the weekend with Drake and his Aunt Catherine?"

"Just Drake. His aunt moved out of it or something and now Drake's sister owns it."

"So you and Drake. Alone in an abandoned beach house," Cathy said, shaking her right hand dry. "Are you gonna keep that a secret too?"

"From everybody but you," Mindy answered, concentrating on the fingernails of the other girl's left hand. "You know you'd be a total life saver, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it," Cathy said. Something in her voice made Mindy pause, mid-brush.

"You're sure? I mean, I don't think it'll be a problem, but I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do."

"It's fine Mindy, really," Cathy replied, watching the brush slide over her nails. "I'm just a little worried about you. I mean, I'm excited for you and Drake, if you're happy, but it just seems so unlike you. Leaving town without telling your parents? For a boy? When has that ever been an option for you?"

"Now," Mindy said simply. Looking up, she twirled the brush back on the bottle. "Your hand's done."

"Are you going to sleep with him?" Cathy asked bluntly, shaking her left hand dry.

"Whoa, that's a little personal, don't you think?" Mindy asked as she became determined not to make eye contact. She placed the manicure set on top of Cathy's desk and picked at the hem of her corduroys.

"No," Cathy said flatly. "You're going away with a boy overnight, and not just any boy. Drake Parker, who isn't exactly pure or anything."

"I know that. Doesn't mean anything's going to happen."

"I'm not trying to come off sounding like a mom or overprotective," Cathy said with softness creeping back into her voice. "But it just doesn't sound like you. And I don't want you to do anything you'll regret."

"I know!" Mindy exclaimed, a sudden outburst of energy coursing through her. She looked up to see the shocked look on Cathy's face and immediately dialed it back. "I know, Cath. Everything you're saying, I've thought about a million times, seriously. I know exactly what it sounds like and I of all people know that I would be the last person to do this kind of thing. These last couple of months though…I feel like I have to do it, you know?"

"Are you…" Cathy started and then trailed off as she let the words hang between them. Mindy shrugged in response.

"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. It's hard because I want to, but I don't because it could be risky. I'm pretty sure he wants to, but we've never talked about it, not really. What if we do and it just messes everything up? And Josh is like constantly in the back of my mind, making me worried about him finding out and I just wish Drake had told him already."

Cathy watched as Mindy sighed and she scooted over on the carpet so she was sitting next to her best friend. She threw her arms around Mindy's shoulders and squeezed a hug out; she could only hope Mindy felt better.

"It'll work out," Cathy said, trying to be positive as she rested her head on Mindy's shoulder. "We can talk about this stuff, right?"

"God, I hope so. I feel like a walking ball of stress lately."

"Next time you have a hot, secret boyfriend, you tell me, deal?"

"Deal."

--

**Saturday Afternoon, the day of the Big Trip**

"Are you sure you can't stay home tonight?" Josh asked, sprawled out over the length of his bed. Drake shook his head as he stepped from the landing of his loft onto the arm of the sofa before both feet were planted securely on the wooden floor.

"Can't. Band practice all afternoon and then I'm crashing at Trevor's," Drake answered, trying to sound breezy. He threw a t-shirt into his open duffle bag and avoided eye contact with Josh.

"All right, but you're missing out dude," Josh replied in a singsong voice. "Tonight we're marathon-ing all the classic 80s high school movies; _Speedy Times at Hilltop High_, _The Brunch Crew_, and _Luscious in Lavender_. It's gonna be pretty awesome."

"Next movie night, I'll be there, promise," Drake said half-heartedly as he dug into his underwear drawer for a particular pair of socks. Finding them, he squeezed the fabric and felt the contents he'd stuffed in there a few days ago. He briskly walked over to his duffle bag on the couch and stuffed them into the bag's pocket without his brother noticing. "Megan's over at Janie's, right?"

"For the fourth time, yes," Josh answered as he grabbed for an old tabloid. "Why are you so interested in knowing where she is?"

"Man, I'm just trying to stay out of her way. She caught me eyeing her Megathon bar and she made some kind of threat," Drake said, the lie rolling easily off his tongue. It might as well have been true; Megan was always threatening him for one thing or another. He had no idea what she would do if she caught him stealing her key to Aunt Catherine's place (or rather, Megan's place now, he supposed).

"You might want to get going then. She's supposed to be back in like, half an hour," Josh advised, flipping through glossy pages.

"Thanks man," Drake said, zipping up the duffle bag. He shouldered it and made his way toward the blue door. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you later," Josh answered. As Drake walked down the hall to the staircase, he thought he heard something about Oprah and decided it was best not to turn back.

Crossing over the last few steps, he made his way toward the wall that divided the kitchen from the family room and walked immediately toward the little key tree that sat happily on the counter where he could see into the kitchen. Drake grabbed the keys to the yellow Volkswagen and then let out a sigh of relief when he spotted the keys to the beach house. Walter and his mom had insisted she keep them on the key tree, but he had a feeling Megan probably had dozens of copies hiding all over the house.

Pocketing the coveted keys (and praying his evil little sister wouldn't find out), Drake exited the house and took off in his car toward the Crenshaw's. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and he could only hope it was a good sign.

Arriving in Mindy's driveway, Drake grinned when he saw she was already waiting on the front porch for him, her own bag next to her. He watched as she jumped up and all but ran to his car; she threw her bag in the back seat and kissed his cheek as she slid in the front seat.

"Hi!" Mindy said brightly. "Ready?"

"Yes," Drake replied, noticing the way her smile made him feel that much happier. "Everything's all set?"

"Absolutely. Let's go before I change my mind," Mindy said as she buckled her seat belt. Drake backed the car out of the driveway, but stepped on the brake before continuing down the street.

"You're sure you wanna do this?"

They both looked at each other and he saw the shift in her grin from happy to mysterious. Her fingers slid over the back of his neck and she pulled him closer; close enough that Drake could feel her breath on his bottom lip. He had a flash back to their first real kiss and it was hard to hold back a groan.

When her teeth pulled lightly at his bottom lip, Drake had to pull away before he did something stupid (like letting go of the brake pedal). But with Mindy's hand still on the back of his neck, he didn't go far and she kissed the bridge of his nose before whispering.

"Just drive."

* * *


	15. Gifts & Games

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

* * *

** On the way to Laguna Nigel**

With the windows open, the warm breeze felt inviting as it sailed over the two of them while the car zoomed easily down the highway. One of Drake's favorite rock bands was blaring from the speakers (he had won the coin toss for the first half of the trip) and Mindy just sat back in her seat, closing her eyes and listening as the drum solo pounded a beat with her heart.

That is, she was trying to close her eyes until she felt a poke on her leg.

"Hey. Hey, you're not falling asleep on me are you?" Drake asked, smiling as she slowly shook her head. "C'mon, we're about halfway there."

"Halfway there?" Mindy repeated, her eyes lighting up. She bent over and started digging in her purse.

"Yeah, why?"

"Aha!" she exclaimed, pulling out a CD. "Eject the rock music Drake, it's_my_ pick now."

He felt no shame in letting out a disappointed groan. "No, no, go back to sleep. We're hours away from the beach house. We might not even get there until next week."

"Nice try," Mindy told him and she watched as the CD slid out of the player. She popped in her music and it wasn't long before the sounds of stringed violins were filling the tiny Beetle.

"Gee, what a surprise. Classical music."

"I didn't complain when you broke out the singer/songwriter folksy crap," she reminded him.

"You said you liked some of it!" Drake exclaimed, spinning the wheel easily so they glided with the highway's curve.

"There's only so much incoherent mumbling a girl can take," Mindy muttered as she started to close her eyes again.

"Wait a second. If you're going to sleep through your turn, I'm bringing Bob Dylan back out."

"I'm not _sleeping_. I'm soaking in the culture from the music," she said, a sense of haughtiness coloring her tone. "Heaven forbid I expose you to something outside the 20th century."

"I just don't get what the big deal is," Drake said, keeping his eyes on the road. "There are no words, no driving drum beat, and stuffy, old people listen to this at their fancy-schmancy wine and cheese parties."

"Drake, not everything has to be spelled out for you. Sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper to find the meaning," Mindy answered as she turned up the volume slightly. "I know you can't close your eyes, but just _listen_. Isn't the music just pretty in itself? It's like you can hear the seasons changing in all the different notes."

He kept the music on an hour later, even after she'd fallen asleep.

"Hey Mindy. Mindy, wake up."

She heard his soft voice and felt herself being shaken awake. Opening her eyes, Mindy saw how dark it had gotten and she registered the sounds of the hard pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the car.

"We're here?" she asked groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "When did it start raining?"

"Half an hour ago. It's getting pretty bad now."

She turned to face him, feeling apologetic. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you. I was so excited about today that I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night."

"Don't worry about it," Drake answered, shrugging it off. "C'mon, let's get our bags inside."

Both of them pulled their duffle bags up to the front, they each opened their door and slammed them shut as they raced to the front door, trying not to get too soaked. They failed miserably.

"C'mon Drake, where's the key?" she asked and yelled over the rain.

"It's in here…hang on, my pocket's too tight."

"Great, we're going to get pneumonia because your pants don't hang below your butt like everybody else we go to school with."

"Hey, you be nice to me or I'll lock you out," Drake half threatened. "Ha, found them!"

They quickly ran into the house once he'd figured out the lock and Drake slammed the door shut behind with a resounding thud that echoed in the grand foyer.

"We're here!" Mindy exclaimed and her eyes widened when she heard her voice echo. She threw her arms around Drake's neck and squeezed a hug out of him, excited that their plan seemed to be going off without a hitch. "We're getting away with it, huh?"

He slid his arms around the small of her back and she felt raindrops from his skin melt on to hers where her shirt was riding up a little. Drake answered her by kissing her chin, then her nose, and when their mouths met, she audibly sighed.

"Seems like it," Drake replied, but she had no idea what he was talking about and didn't bother asking when she felt the slightest bit of his tongue gliding with her own.

When his hand started to move up her shirt, Mindy pulled herself away, untangling from his grip and left him confused.

"Why um…why don't we take a tour of the place? You know, get settled in."

**Back at the Parker/Nichols House**

He was doing well, considering. Almost a month had passed since Lisa had dumped him and Josh thought he was doing okay for the most part. Sure, it had come as a shock and in hindsight he'd wished she'd had more tact about the whole thing. But that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Now when he and Mindy had broken up, Josh was a wreck. Would only get out bed for school and The Premiere and spent two weeks driving his family crazy with his constant moping around. But then he got the idea to challenge Drake to a bet, see who could get more dates.

Yeah, he told Drake it was because he was sick of his brother walking around like he was better than Josh, but that was only part of it. A tiny thought had wriggled into his head that maybe the more dates he went on, the easier it would be to get over Mindy. It worked for awhile until Cathy mentioned to him in Science Club that Craig and Mindy had gone out over the weekend. He felt like the frog they were dissecting, cut open and splayed out for everyone to see that he really wasn't okay.

Thinking back on it now, he was handling his breakup with Lisa _extremely_ well, as far as he's concerned.

And hanging out with Mindy doesn't hurt anymore like it used to. Sometimes, Josh thinks about getting back together with her but she seems so happy without him. He likes their friendship now, likes this new sort of uncharted territory that they're in. Before they were dating, she was his enemy, but now they could just be friends and it was nice. He liked their friendly competition, but he would still dream at night about the way her kisses would make him feel. Not as much as he used to, but it's still there, wandering in the back of his head.

Putting the television on mute, Josh dug into his pocket for his cell phone and scrolled through the address book to find Mindy's number. Pressing a few buttons, he counted out five rings before getting her voicemail. He tried again, but still no answer.

'_Maybe she's at Cathy's'_, he thought to himself and quickly found her number. Three rings and he heard her voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cathy, it's Josh."

"Hi Josh, what's up?"

"Not a whole lot. Just wondering if you'd heard from Mindy lately."

"Mindy? You want to know about Mindy?"

"Yeah, I thought maybe you'd talked to her or she was over at your house or something."

"No, I haven't. She's…not here."

"Cathy, are you okay? You sound a little distracted."

"Sorry Josh, I'm kind of wrapped up working on that history project for Mr. Frank's class. I've got a volcano spewing that won't stop."

"Isn't that project due in three weeks?"

"Yeah but you know. Early bird gets the good grade. Something like that. Gotta go!"

Cathy quickly hit the end button on her cell phone and stuffed it back in her pocket.

"What volcano project?" Mary asked as she raised her eyebrows in question. "Do you have homework to do?"

"No, it's fine," Cathy assured her sister. "That project's not due for another three weeks. Are we going to the mall or what?"

"Yeah, but what about the early bird getting the good grade?"

"Shut up."

**Aunt Catherine's/Megan's Beach house**

"I can't believe you've been here before," Drake said, continuing their conversation from earlier as he entered the kitchen. He had just finished throwing their bags in a bedroom and Mindy had promised to see if the kitchen held any food.

"I didn't know your Aunt Catherine was Catherine Parker-Bowls. She's an old family friend of my mom's," Mindy explained with her head still in the refrigerator. "I've been coming to this place for the past five summers. Geez, look at all this food in here. Why would she keep the place up and running if she doesn't live here anymore?"

"You know how crazy she is. She probably keeps it up for Megan, now that Megan is the golden family member," Drake replied, rolling his eyes.

"Bitter much?"

"This house should've been ours! Josh and I spent all night, abandoned on the highway, trying to deliver that cake for her wedding."

"Didn't the cake explode in the car fire?"

"Sure, get stuck on the details," he said, flicking his head so his bangs would be out of his eyes. "Any luck finding anything? The streets are probably flooded by now, since the rain hasn't stopped."

"There's a frozen pizza in the freezer. We could heat that up," Mindy suggested, pulling it out. "It only takes about a half an hour."

"Awesome," Drake agreed, looking at the pizza box before she put the pizza in the oven. "Pepperoni? Even better."

Mindy turned the dial to 350 and stole a look at her watch before turning to face him. "Okay, 30 minutes. Now what?"

"I'm sure we can think of something," Drake told her, reaching for her hand. She felt him pulling her closer, close enough that she could rest her head on his shoulder and she could feel his thumb stroking the outline of her palm. _Danger, danger_ her mind was telling her and she fought to listen.

"Board games!" Mindy blurted into his shoulder and she felt the vibration in his chest when he gave a laugh.

"What did you say?"

"Board games," she repeated, bringing her head back to make eye contact. "Your Aunt Catherine…she's a nut for them. Why don't we have a competition?"

"A competition?"

"Yeah, we'll have a show-down or something. We'll each pick a couple games and then whoever wins the most, wins the board game tournament," Mindy said and the more she rambled, the more she got excited about the idea. "Come on, it's not like we'll be able to go to the beach. This could be fun!"

"Okay," Drake answered slowly. He kept his grip on her hand when she tried pulling away. "Hang on a sec. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Great, even. Why do you ask?"

And he saw it, a flicker of panic run through her eyes before she answered. It worried him, but the look disappeared as fast as it revealed itself. "You just seem nervous about something. Anything you wanna talk about?"

"The only thing I want to talk about," Mindy said, flashing him a grin. "Is how badly I'm going to beat you in our tournament."

"Oh, so that's how it is? We'll see about that, Crenshaw. It is _on_.

Three hours, eight games, and one slightly burnt pepperoni pizza later, the two of them were sprawled on the living room floor with a Scrabble board between them (her pick). They were tied with four games apiece and Mindy announced ceremoniously before Scrabble started that this was for the win.

"All right, Drake, it's your turn," Mindy reminded him, crossing her legs.

"I know, I know," he replied, sighing. They'd been playing for over a half an hour and letters were starting to swim in his head. He picked up a few tiles and placed them on the board. "D-O-G."

"I'm so glad to have waited five minutes for that," Mindy deadpanned as she wrote his score down.

"You take Scrabble _way_ more seriously than a sixteen year old girl should," he shot back.

She ignored him and grabbed her own tiles when she saw a use out of the O from his dog. "C-O-L-L-E-A-G-U-E." She smiled for herself until she noticed the confused look on his face. "A colleague is someone you work with."

"I know," Drake said half-irritated and a little impatient. He'd gotten an idea halfway through the game to surprise Mindy with something, but she was dragging this out and almost sucking the fun out of it. He sighed as he grabbed some letters out of the bag and saw an opening. He used the G from his dog and played off that. "G-I-F-T."

"Okay, I've got the last letters out of the bag," she informed him, showing him an evil smile. "It all comes down to this, Parker. The winner of the Board Game Tournament." She arranged her letters on the holder and weighed her options. "Ooh, got one. B-A-L-L-I-S-T-I-C."

"S-H-I-N-Y," Drake spelled out, using the S from her word. "Hang on a sec, I gotta go grab something."

"You can run all you want, but you're going down!" Mindy called out as he ran down the hall.

He returned a few minutes later, but she noted that his hands were empty. She was about to call him on it, but he spoke up before she could.

"All right Mindy, you're turn. What are you gonna pull out now?" Drake asked, giving her a somewhat sarcastic grin. There was a challenge in his voice that she couldn't ignore, so she kept her mouth shut and looked at her tiles.

"How about this," Mindy told him. "P-U-N-C-H, with the H landing on double letter score. You're gonna have to come up with something really good if you want to win."

"Okay," he answered, biting his bottom lip for a second before placing his tiles down. "B-R-A-C-E-L-I-T."

"Is that supposed to be bracelet?"

Drake paused, looking at the board. "Isn't that what I spelled?"

She shook her head. "That I is supposed to be an E."

"I hate words," Drake grumbled as Mindy smiled and looked down at the score pad she was keeping. She began adding up the numbers until she heard him quietly clear his throat. "Hey. Find the E tile in here?"

"All the letters are…," Mindy started until she noticed that in his hand was a small, jewelry pouch that obviously was not holding anymore Scrabble tiles. "…gone."

"Yeah. But why don't you look anyway."

She bit the inside of her cheek and accepted the bag from him, noting the way the blue crushed velvet felt against her fingertips. Gently undoing the braided tie, she didn't realize she was holding her breath until she saw what was inside.

"Oh, Drake," Mindy exhaled, pulling out a mock-pearl bracelet. "What…how…?"

"I saw it and I thought of you," he answered simply, his own look of nervousness fading little by little. "It reminded me of your necklace, sort of. I just thought you should have it."

"It's beautiful," she told him, finally getting a full sentence out as she touched the pearl necklace that had been a birthday present from her parents. Looking into his brown eyes, she reached out for him and they both heard the clatter of Scrabble tiles shifting as she pulled him in for a slow kiss.

"The game!" Drake yelped against her mouth and she had to pull away when she started laughing. He moved with her when she started to stand up and they moved so they could sit next to each other on the large, leather sofa.

Kissing his cheek, she whispered. "You win."

Drake smiled and looked down at her hands, still playing with the bracelet between her fingertips. "Need help putting that on?"

"Please."

Her wrist was so tiny and delicate as she held still and he admired the way her palm curved, the way her nails looked elegant over his own freckled skin. Fastening the clasp, Drake twisted the bracelet so it looked right on her and he couldn't imagine her wrist without it.

"I want this bracelet to mean something," he admitted, looking up into her eyes. They were shining; so bright and happy he could almost pinch himself. "I guess I just want it to mean us. If that makes sense."

"It does. Absolutely it does," Mindy assured him, admiring the way it looked. "Thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me."

"I think I do," Drake pressed on, reaching for her hand so that it was cradled in his own. "Mindy, I…I love you."

The pause between them felt infinite and in the distance, he could hear the ticking of an antique clock. He didn't expect to feel a churning in his stomach, but there it was, sick and twisted.

"Wow," Mindy finally said softly. "You really mean that."

"Yeah, I really do. Did you think I was lying?"

"No, no. Of course not," she backpedaled. "I mean…look at us Drake. Look how far we've come in the last six, seven months. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that those words coming from you would have made me feel so happy."

"They do? Make you feel happy, I mean?"

"_Insanely_ happy," Mindy assured and as she nodded, a big grin broke over her face. A single tear ran down her cheek and he felt his eyes grow wide, confused at all the emotions she was displaying. Drake didn't know if he felt that many emotions in a year, let alone in the span of thirty seconds.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not," she said, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tear. "I mean, I am, but I'm not. Sorry." She sighed and let out a tiny laugh. "I'm just a little emotional. Sorry, it's a girl thing."

"It's okay," he told her, throwing his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and he felt the sigh ripple through her body. It felt good knowing that she was happy, but Drake felt his stomach clench again when he realized she hadn't said it back. As he was trying to convince himself that it wasn't anything to freak out over, she spoke up.

"Hey Drake?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you too."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Cool."

They burst through the bedroom door with a resounding thud, tangled in a knot of limbs, lips, and hot breath. Without missing a beat, Mindy kicked the door shut with her foot and Drake groaned when his back hit the supple mattress with her not far behind, just a gasp and a kiss away.

Whatever panic he had seen earlier in her eyes was completely vanished now as it felt like she was devouring him. They were in completely new territory now and there was an urgency there that he'd never felt before. It excited him that she was taking charge, but he had to wonder where this was going.

Not that he didn't have an idea. He had _plenty_ of ideas of where this could go, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. It had been a long time since he'd been with a nice girl like Mindy and he prayed that he wouldn't screw this up. Never before had such heavy emotion been involved and Drake for the first time was going to find out the difference between fooling around with some chick and possibly making love. The thought itself was daunting and he tried to push it out of his head and just concentrate on Mindy.

She, at the moment, was putting pressure on his belt buckle now while kissing her way down the curve of his neck, licking the spot that made Drake's gut do tiny back flips. Mindy gave a shallow gasp when he arched his hips unexpectedly and unknowingly, they simultaneously felt shivers race through the length of their bodies. She started to help him out of bright blue his t-shirt and after it was cast on the floor, they made brief eye contact before she smiled and gave him a deep, spine-tingling kiss.

He really, _really_ hoped he wouldn't screw this up.

Morning stretched out long and slow through sheer, gauzy curtains. It was the perfect lazy Sunday to wake up to and Mindy's eyes fluttered open to see Drake already awake and smiling. It freaked her out a little first to realize he'd been watching her sleep, but she quickly calmed herself down and snuggled further into the warm sheets.

"Morning."

"Morning."

He didn't make any motions to get out of bed, which was perfectly fine by her. Instead, Drake burrowed deeper into the blankets and pulled her toward him. Mindy shifted on to her side, felt her back flush with his chest, and relished in the feeling of his head so near her own. He was close enough that she could feel his breath on her back and they rested like that for who knows how long. They were in each other's arms and for now, that was enough.

* * *


	16. When Push Comes to Shove

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

One more thing, this story contains part of the episode "Josh Is done", so there are lots of plot spoilers. Enjoy!

--

**Parker/Nichols' Residence, after "the big weekend"**

Drake tried not to make a big thing out of walking through the front door. He certainly didn't want to attract any attention; after all, as far as his family was concerned, he was only over at Trevor's. No big deal.

He walked over to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room and swept the room with a glance. No one was around and he dug the beach house key out of his pocket and placed it gingerly on the silver key tree before nearly having a heart attack.

"Hey Drake!" Megan said cheerfully, popping her head up from under the counter's wooden ledge. Drake yelled while he dropped his duffle bag in order to clutch his chest; he could feel the rapid rhythm of his surprised heart.

"_Megan_!" Drake exclaimed sternly. "What's your problem?"

"Oh, I don't know," she answered innocently as she went wide-eyed. "I hate my teacher, I can't find a particular sponge for my collection, and Josh has been gone all day so I can't bother him. Those are just a few of my problems."

He gave her a withering glare and bent over to pick up his bag before heading in the direction of the staircase. He paused when she started talking again.

"My biggest problem though," Megan continued, calling after him. "Is that a certain key to a certain beach house was missing from the key tree. I didn't use it and Mom and Walter have been home. Josh was here, boob-ing it up." Drake spun on his heel to face his sister, curious as to where this was leading. The sinking feeling in his stomach was doing a number on him, but he tried to ignore it. "But, you were at Trevor's, right?"

There was something challenging in her voice, but Drake felt himself nod in agreement anyway as a way to desperately cling to his lie.

"Hmm, well you must not have used it then," Megan rationalized, using a sugar sweet voice that made his stomach lurch. She looked down at the key tree and let out a gasp. "Oh look! _Here's_ my key. Kind of weird that it shows up when you come home, huh?"

"Yeah. Weird," Drake answered weakly. His mind ran with thoughts of Megan's past pranks and he wondered if he was going to get out of this lie. But she narrowed her eyebrows and he wished the floor would swallow him up instead of having to deal with this.

"Cut the crap Drake. I know you took my key," Megan said, giving him an evil glare as she pushed through the door that led to the living room.

"Whatever you do, don't hurt my face," Drake pleaded, watching as she plopped on the stuffy blue couch. She didn't answer him and a question blurted through his mouth before he could stop it. "How did you know?"

"Carly stopped by."

"What? What for?"

"She wanted to drop off a box of your stuff. Since you told me three days ago that you were going out on a date with her, I thought it was a little weird," Megan told him. "When I told her to take the box to Trevor's, she said she had just come from Trevor's and you definitely weren't there."

"So, so what did you do? Put snakes in my bed? Nair in my shampoo? Or maybe you'll just set off a stink bomb in my room when you think I'll least expect it. I know, I bet you were just _waiting_ for me to come home so you could tell Mom and Walter, right?" Drake listed off as he paced around the spacious living room. Each thing he listed caused more worry to churn in his stomach; he had learned a long time ago never to underestimate his little sister.

"Drake, sit down. I didn't tell Mom and Walter and I'm not going to tell Mom and Walter."

He flopped on the overstuffed chair by the fireplace and stared at Megan, trying to figure out her angle. "Why?"

"Because if I tell them, you'll get in trouble and I'll enjoy it. But it'll only be fun for a little while and then it's over," she answered calmly. "The longer you suffer, the more fun it is for me." She rose from the couch and looked at him evenly. "Sleep with one eye open Drake."

--

Despite his run-ins with Megan and Josh, Drake was pretty much on cloud nine. Every spare moment he had was spent with Mindy and they both couldn't get enough of each other. It was as though spending one night in the beach house had pressed the restart button on them. He felt so happy that even keeping this all secret didn't seem so daunting anymore.

Of course, there was still a certain inescapable fear that came with sneaking around, but Drake solved that problem by avoiding Josh as much as possible. It seemed to be working until Josh started calling him all the time, whenever they weren't together.

"Just answer it," Mindy said one night, stretched out on top of him. They were making out in the backseat of the blue convertible Drake borrowed from Walter and he noticed the annoyance in her face when she pulled away. "That's the third time he's called tonight."

"Fine," Drake sighed, digging his phone out of his pocket. Pressing the answer button, he tried his best not to sound too irritated. "Yeah, Josh?"

"Hey, Drake! You busy?"

"Just a little," he answered as Mindy rested her head on his chest. "I'm on a _date_ here."

"Well I'm standing at the Premiere. Why don't you and your date come over and catch a movie with me?" Josh asked, clearly not getting the hint.

"No!" Drake exclaimed with a mix of frustration and panic. "I mean…no, Josh, I can't. I'm busy. I'll see you at home." He savagely hit the end button on his phone and tossed it to the floor as his head hit the leather on the backseat. "God, why does Josh have to be so clingy?"

"Have you spent _any_ time with him?" Mindy asked diplomatically.

"Well…no. But he wasn't like this before!" he protested. "Before, I could've set myself on fire and he wouldn't have noticed. It's just, you know. Perfect timing Josh."

"Maybe you should spend some time with him," she told him tentatively. "You know, store up some good faith. It couldn't hurt."

"Store up faith for what? Before we tell him?"

Mindy didn't answer right away, but she wanted to blurt out, _yes, of course!_ She bit her tongue and drew loopy patterns between the freckles on his arm with the tip of her finger before talking. "Are we back at that place again? Will we or won't we tell him?"

"I never thought we'd have to tell him," Drake said honestly. "And we keep talking about how sick we are of hiding this. What are we afraid of? It's just _Josh_."

"Yeah, just Josh," Mindy agreed. "Josh, the second smartest in our school."

"All the teachers like him, even crazy Mrs. Hafer."

"He volunteers at the old folks' home and heads the Science Club and tutors kids after school."

Drake paused. "He's kind of sensitive."

"Just a tad overemotional," Mindy agreed.

"I'm always afraid that when we tell him, we'll literally see his head explode."

"It's physically impossible," she said, sounding reasonable. "The worst that could happen is that he could faint."

"Gee, that doesn't sound like Josh," Drake responded sarcastically.

"Okay, stop it. We are psyching ourselves out over this," she said sternly. "Just…spend some time with him and we'll go from there. That should be our plan as of now, okay?"

"Okay fine," Drake agreed. He paused before his lips split into a grin. "But couldn't you just see it though? His face would get all red and shaky and then guts and brain would explode _all_ over the pla-"

A pair of insistent lips interrupted him and it was enough to shut his brain off for a few mind-numbing moments. When she pulled away for air, all he could do was look into her eyes questioningly.

"What was that for?"

"Drake. Don't talk about guts."

"Fair enough," he agreed, placing his hand on the back of her thigh as he pulled her closer. "Maybe I don't even have to talk at all."

"Sounds even better," she murmured, biting her bottom lip in anticipation as his fingers inched over flushed skin.

--

An hour and a half later, Drake pointed the car in the direction of his house after dropping Mindy off and felt content as he sped down the road. Slowing to acknowledge a red light, he saw a corner gas station closed for the night. However, the moon was particularly bright and something shiny caught his eye; it was coming from behind the gas station.

The light turned green and he swerved the car into the dark gas station parking lot before killing the engine. Making his way toward the back, Drake saw there was a ditch and the ground around it felt soggy as he walked toward it. But sitting a few good feet away from him was a glorious looking ping-pong table and he knew just who to call.

"Josh? You still up? Good, come meet me at the gas station on the corner of Shay and Spencer. I found something I think you're gonna like!"

Josh arrived ten minutes later, clad in sneakers and his flannel pajamas. He stood next to Drake, arms folded as they both stared at the ping-pong table.

"It's a ping-pong table," Josh stated, not seeming overly thrilled about the idea.

"Yeah!" Drake said excitedly. "Isn't it great? Now we can have ping-pong tournaments and pretend we're samurais, like in the movies!"

"What does being a samurai have to do with ping pong?"

"Who cares? It'll be fun!"

"It's a ping-pong table," Josh deadpanned. "In a _ditch_."

"So? It's not any different than going to a garage sale or picking through someone's garbage," Drake reasoned. He slapped his brother's forearm and headed toward the table. "C'mon, help me put it in Walter's car."

"First of all, it's _very_ different than garage sale, but maybe about the same as going through someone's garbage," Josh started. "And secondly, how on earth are you going to get this in Dad's car?"

"It folds," Drake said, pointing to the metal leg joints. "But I need your help, so come on! Hurry up before someone sees."

"Are we stealing?" Josh asked with his face going white. "I'm not going to get arrested for stealing a piece of crap ping-pong table because _you_ thought for fifteen seconds that being a samurai might be fun."

"Oh, would you quit complaining? You're not going to get arrested for stealing. This is obviously garbage to someone. One man's garbage-"

"Is another man's garbage," Josh interrupted as he gingerly made his way toward the table through the softened mixture of mud and grass. "You really want to take this and play me in tournaments and stuff? This won't be like the time you tried to get me to play the keyboard and then gave up a half an hour after we started?"

"I guarantee you at least an hour of ping-pong tournament," Drake generously offered. "Lucky for you, being a samurai doesn't require any musical talent."

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," Josh grumbled as he pushed up his sleeves. As Drake walked passed him, he slapped his brother's back and gave him a smile while Josh begrudgingly rolled his eyes.

--

**A week later, the day of Mr. Roland's insanely hard Chemistry test**

All Drake wanted to do was play a little ping-pong.

Yeah, he heard Josh go on and on about how hard Mr. Roland's test was going to be, but frankly he didn't care. He was trying to follow Mindy's advice to be a good friend (and a good brother for that matter) and store up some good faith with Josh. It had been fun for a while, to sneak around and see where this was going. No one was more surprised than Drake when she turned out to last more than a month.

If they were finally going to break down and tell Josh, Drake wanted to be the one to do it and he wanted to score as many brownie points as possible. It couldn't hurt, right?

So, maybe approaching Josh when he was stressing over a big exam wasn't the best time to appeal for a little game and some brother bonding. But he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a least a little funny to see his brother all flustered and he had to bite his lip when Josh accidentally broke the "window of transparency".

Tossing Josh his chemistry book and promising to be back in ten seconds, Drake thundered down the stairs toward the living room to retrieve the extra ping-pong paddle. He was about to race back upstairs when an odd sound coming from the kitchen distracted him.

"What was that?" Drake asked Megan, who was sitting at the table with her laptop.

"Humpback," she replied calmly and he thought it was a little too early in the morning to start with insults.

"Jerk," he shot back, not wanting to give her the upper hand. She looked at him and audibly sighed.

"I wasn't calling _you_ a name. That was the sound of a humpback whale."

"Oh."

"Boob," Megan said quickly, flashing him a familiar evil grin. "_That_ was me calling you a name."

"Yeah, well you know what? I don't like-" Drake said, starting to get irritated, when he was interrupted by the phone ringing. Turning on his heel, he grabbed to answer it. "Hello?"

"Oh good, I'm glad you answered," Mindy said on the other end, sounding relieved.

"Oh, hey Kat," Drake said casually, still unsure if Megan had deduced who he'd been with at Aunt Catherine's beach house.

"I got an early ride to school today and I'm all by myself in the library," Mindy said, unfazed by the girl's name. This wasn't the first time he'd called her by something else on the phone and she figured someone must've been in the room.

"You are?" Drake asked, his interest piquing.

"Yeah. I finally finished studying last night, so I'm in the library all by myself. Wearing the lip gloss you like so much and completely _alone_," she continued, hoping he caught her drift and also fibbing just a little bit. The librarian was on the other side of the room, but she was probably close to hitting 70 and Mindy knew her eyesight was definitely not what it used to be.

"You are? What flavor?" he asked excitedly, forgetting where he was for a moment. He was quickly brought back down to earth when an annoying whale noise pierced his thoughts. He turned the phone toward his shoulder and gave Megan a dirty look. "I'm trying to talk on the phone here!" He was rewarded with another whale noise. "Quit it!"

"Is everything okay?" Mindy asked, wondering why there were humpback whale sounds in the Parker/Nichols' kitchen.

"No, sorry," Drake answered, focusing his attention back on her. "It's just my little sister playing on her-" One more whale noise from Megan's laptop and he'd had enough. "I'll meet you at your locker in fifteen minutes!"

Drake angrily hung up the phone and whirled around to give his sister what Josh liked to call a stern talking to. "You know, when a pretty girl calls me in the morning and wants to make out before school, it doesn't help when you start _blasting_ your whale sounds-"

He watched as she dared to press a button on her keyboard and another whale groan annoyed him from the computer's speakers. At this point, he wasn't even surprised and he set his mouth in a line before speaking. "You're the worst."

Spinning on his heel, Drake grabbed the keys to the yellow Beetle and headed out the front door, eager to leave his vengeful sister behind and unfortunately forgetting about Josh upstairs.

--

"Is it really empty?" Drake asked when he caught up with Mindy at school, fifteen minutes later.

"If we're really, really quiet, I'm pretty sure Mrs. Goldstein won't hear us," she assured him, grabbing his hand as she pushed through the heavy doors

As usual, Mindy was right as he surveyed the empty library. It wasn't a place he visited often and he allowed her to lead him toward the back corner, behind the tall bookcases where a few couches and beanbag seats were scattered for a comfortable reading area. He watched as she flopped onto the couch and took a seat next to her.

"Hi," Mindy said, smiling when she saw how close he was in proximity to her.

"Hey," Drake replied, slow smile returned and then he discovered that raspberry was the answer to his earlier question of the phone when her lips met his.

"Mmm, missed you," she mumbled, twisting into a more comfortable position. They had spent most of the week apart, with her studying for Mr. Roland's test and him devoting his spare time practicing his ping-pong prowess.

"Missed you too. Stupid Mr. Roland."

"Mmhmm," Mindy agreed as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you study at all?"

"Sort of. Not really," he answered, echoing the same sentiments he'd told Josh earlier. "I was busy doing what you said."

"Which was…?"

"Spending time with Josh."

"You think he's ready for us to tell him?" Mindy asked idly as his arm stretched out over her shoulders.

"Probably not, but I feel more ready," Drake admitted. He paused, considering the weight of their decision. "You sure we're ready for this?"

"Yes I do," she said decisively and they both heard the library doors creak open before the chatter of students broke the silence. Mindy looked at her watch and sighed. "It's getting closer to class starting."

"Ugh, we never have enough time," Drake grumbled before he felt her warm hand pull him in for another slow kiss. She liked to take her time and when he started to get into it, she pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"You're going to tell him today?"

"Yeah. Today's a good day."

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?"

He shook his head. "We talked about this on the way home from the beach house. I think it's better if Josh hears it from me."

"Okay, if you say so," Mindy agrees, shrugging as she gives him one more quick kiss. Drake opened his eyes to watch as she stood over him while smoothing out her pale blue skirt. "Just keep telling yourself, today's a good day."

He nods and watches her walk away as he counts to thirty in his head. He leaves the quiet corner of the library and wonders what it'll finally be like to be with Mindy with everything out in the open.

--

Drake entered Mr. Roland's class five minutes later and spots the real Kat in his class sitting at her lab table and looking bored out of her mind. Her eyes lit up when she spotted him and he can't help but be curious when she waves him over.

"Hi Drake!" Kat greeted him brightly as she swung her long brown hair over her shoulder. "Are you ready for the test?"

"Sure, why not?" Drake answered flippantly as he took the open seat next to hers. In reality, he had no idea what he was going to do about the test, but he'd figure out something. He started to wonder if faking sick would work on tough Mr. Roland, but then he realized Kat was still talking to him.

"…Drake, you're so laid back. That's one of the things that I like most about you," Kat was saying as she casually placed a hand on his thigh. It didn't stay there long, but it definitely lingered and he definitely noticed.

"Yeah, well. Josh says I'm so laid back, I'm practically horizontal," he told her half-jokingly and she laughed longer than she should have.

The old Drake Parker would have been making out with Kat by now, he realized. The old Drake Parker is noticing all the signs that she's definitely into him, but the new Drake is getting pretty good at resisting those impulses he used to live by. Mindy had done what he thought was impossible and made him faithful to her after Carly broke up with him and that was the last thought he had before he realized that Kat was kissing him.

She was _kissing_ him, his brain screamed at him and he brought up his hand to push her away, but he let it linger on her back a little bit. The old Drake missed this, hooking up with a new girl every week, but a combination of a mental image of Mindy's hurt face and Mr. Roland's voice caused him to pull away from Kat.

"…put all your materials under your desk. Drake, stop kissing Kat. Your exam is about to begin," Mr. Roland was saying before he walked from his desk to lock the classroom door. Drake made his way back to his own lab table and absently wondered where Josh could be.

"You will have exactly 55 minutes to complete your exam," Mr. Roland said before the class was distracted by the large crash and yelp against the locked door.

Josh popped up from the floor and everyone saw how he was sweat soaked through his bright blue polo and how freaked out he looked. He began to bang on the door in desperation. "Please, please, let me in! I'm sorry I'm late!"

Mr. Roland, completely unfazed, unlocked the door and opened it to find Josh out of breath on the other side. "Mr. Nichols, you know the rule."

"But you don't understand! See, I was about to come in-" Josh pleaded, trying to explain.

"I understand that you are _late_," Mr. Roland interrupted sternly. "And when you are late to my class, you are not welcome in my class."

"But what about the exam?"

"You can make up the exam next Saturday morning at 6 am and you will be marked down one letter grade."

"Oh _no_," Josh breathed and Drake noted how close he looked to having an actual nervous breakdown. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, _YOU_!"

That last syllable was directed at Drake, clarified with a finger point from Josh, and he stood up from his lab table and asked an innocent question. "What?"

An animalistic scream tore from Josh's throat as he charged toward Drake, who was used to this kind of behavior from his brother but it still didn't diminish the small lick of fear that ran through him as he backed up toward the shelving unit. Luckily, a couple of their classmates caught Josh before he could do any damage, but they couldn't stop him from screaming at Drake.

"Come here! Come here, you wanna tussle? Let's go!" Josh screamed before Mr. Roland's voice boomed over the ruckus.

"You will leave this classroom now!"

"But I-"

"Now!"

"I just-"

"Now!"

"_Now_," Josh conceded as he made his way out the door. But not before banging on the door and all of the windows as the teacher continued his instructions for the exam.

"…silence is golden," Mr. Roland ended with as Josh gave one final scream from outside the third window in the classroom.

--

In an undecidedly Josh like move, he decided to skip school and walk the twenty minutes back home to rest and think about things. At this point, he didn't care if he got caught; whether by the cameras he's pretty sure Megan's got trained on the house or if Mr. Roland called up Mom and Dad. None of that mattered because Drake had let him down once again and there was nothing he could do to stop his brother from disappointing him in the future.

Walking down the sidewalk of the subdivision he knew a shortcut through, Josh could feel the sun glaring down on him. It felt like Mr. Roland's stare as he had tried to explain what had happened, that it was really all Drake's fault, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

But he had to. Josh had to think of a way to stop Drake's behavior because it was making his life miserable. Drake was his best friend, the closest thing that felt like family after Dad, but sometimes he had to wonder if he even liked the guy sometimes. Drake, with his perfect hair and his perfect luck with girls and his too good to be true luck with every single thing in life. How does a guy compete with that?

And Josh realized as he passed under a shady tree that he had to stop trying. He had to stop comparing his life to someone else, stop living in the shadow of Drake's popularity, just stop all of it. Josh thought back over the past couple of months (heck, _years_) at how easily it seemed that Drake could ignore him and his feelings and blow him off whenever he felt like it.

Josh started to get disgusted with himself that he would always crawl back when Drake beckoned; it reminded him of this morning when he tried to study and what did Drake do? Throw a ping-pong paddle at his waist and coerce him into a game anyway, inadvertently causing him to break their bedroom window because that was just his own dumb luck.

That was it. Josh Nichols was done.

"You hear that world? I am _done_!" Josh shouted, looking up at the bright blue cloudless sky. He didn't know if he should've expected anything bad to happen, but the fact that nothing at all happened instead gave him hope as he continued to walk back home.

--

Drake managed to avoid people at school when Chemistry was over, but stories and rumors swirled around the hallways of Belleview High in a way that made him a wish the ground would open and swallow him up.

"_I heard that Josh tried to get in the class and Drake kicked him out."_

"_I heard that Josh broke two windows in Mr. Roland's room because he was so upset about not taking the test."_

"_I heard Josh screaming from two hallways over! What did Drake do to the poor guy?"_

When school was over, Drake busted out as quickly as he could and made a quick stop over at the neighbor kid's house to swipe a Sit 'n Bounce that he was sure would cheer up Josh and they could put this whole silly thing behind them. But when he got home, it seemed as though Josh was nowhere near being able to forgive him.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm done," Josh said after Drake felt like an idiot for bouncing around on a toy. He stood up from the neon green ball in the middle of the living room, and tried to understand as Josh calmly explains to him that he's done.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Drake asked, waiting for the explosion that was bound to happen. It never came.

"I don't want anything to do with you anymore," Josh said quietly and Drake has to admit that the words stung more than he's willing to admit.

"So what, are you gonna move out?" he asked, trying to make light of the situation.

"No. This is the house where I live and I guess we'll be roommates until the day I leave for college, but that's all we'll be is roommates," Josh told him and all Drake could do was stand, dumbfounded and at a loss for words. "I'm done with you."

"Whoa," Megan says from the kitchen, breaking the tense silence. She came out to meet Drake in the living room and he can't help but still be irritated at her from this morning.

"What?"

"You really did it this time."

"Come on, you know how many times Josh has been "furious" with me?" Drake asked, not wanting to come to terms with the gravity of Josh's words. "He'll pout for a day or two and then he'll get over it."

"I don't know. He sounded pretty serious," Megan replied as she held on to her enormous stuffed whale.

"Trust me," he told her, mustering up some confidence. "All right, I know Josh and there's no way he's going to-"

He would've continued, but Robbie the neighbor kid entered the house and stole back what was rightfully his. Drake thought Robbie's kick in the shin was unnecessary, but focusing on the bruise that was slowly forming was a lot better than realizing how screwed up things were with the one person he counted on most.

--


	17. The Necessity Of You

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

One more thing, this story contains the second part of the episode "Josh Is done", so there are lots of plot spoilers. Enjoy!

**Saturday night, Mindy's bedroom, a week later**

Mindy finished putting together the last few buttons of her oxford shirt and she stretched out along the length of her bed while Drake bent over to find his t-shirt that had been tossed aside earlier.

"Try looking under the bed," she offered as she twisted her body to grab the English book that was on her nightstand. She began to lazily flip through it as Drake stood and stretched the black fabric over his head.

"Got it. Whatcha doing?"

"Some homework. Want to study with me?"

He flopped on the bed next to her and propped his head up on her pillow while raising an eyebrow. "Me? Study?"

"Just a thought. Might give you something to do besides mope around about Josh."

"I wasn't going to mope around about Josh," Drake replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Please. I know you're still irritated about what happened at the Premiere a couple days ago."

"He blew me off for our tradition of Bad Movie Tuesdays to go to some stupid laser show!"

"Craig and Eric said that the show was pretty neat," Mindy said, stopping on the chapter discussing Oedipus. It was a lame attempt to switch subjects, but he saw through her.

"Mindy, so not the point."

"Fine. What's really bothering you?"

"That it's been almost a _week_ of Josh ignoring me, giving me the silent treatment, and just acting really weird and quiet. He's been going on dates and playing racquetball with Helen and just acting like I don't even exist," Drake listed in an exasperated tone. "He has never been mad at me for this long and I'm beginning to think that Megan was right, that I might've pushed him over the edge."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"What? No, he'd wonder why you were pushing him to be nice to me and we can't exactly explain that, can we?"

"No, I guess not," Mindy answered as she rolled on her side to face him. He looked so sad and pathetic while pouting against her lacy pillows that it almost would've made her laugh if she hadn't been discouraged by the whole situation. "Just give it a few more days. I'm sure it'll get better."

"And what if it doesn't? What if Josh is right and we're just roommates until he heads off to college?" Drake asked, a hint of whine tingeing his voice. "I'll have to deal with this for another year."

"It's not going to get worse," she assured him.

"But what if it does?"

"It won't."

"He seemed pretty set on the idea of cutting me out of his life."

"He won't."

"But what if he does?"

"Drake!" Mindy exclaimed, frustrated. He'd been acting like this all week and she tried to understand and be a good listener, but it was getting harder each day. She sat up and crossed her legs Indian-style on top of the mattress while patting his knee. "Sweetie, I'm trying to be a good girlfriend here, but you're making it extremely difficult."

"I'm making it difficult? _I'm_ making it difficult?" Drake asked irrationally.

"Well, maybe if you stopped whining about Josh and gave him his space-"

"I have given him nothing _but_ space," he pointed out. "I spent the whole morning trying to fix my guitar strings and he's the one throwing it in my face that he's gotten so buddy buddy with Megan. Maybe _she_ should be his new brother."

"Maybe you should give _me_ space because you're really starting to make me mad," Mindy grumbled, clearly irritated.

"Fine, I will!" Drake shot back and he slid off the bed and grabbed his gray jacket from the back of her desk chair. "Have fun studying on a Saturday night!"

"Have fun playing ping-pong by yourself!"

The sound of her bedroom door slamming echoed through the empty house until she heard his car peel off down the road.

--

"_Here's ten dollars. Go outside, go do something, go hang out with your friends," Audrey listed, irritation building. "I know you and Josh are going through a tough time, but Drake, you've been stomping around here, pissed off, like the world is about to end. Get out of the house and cool off."_

"_Fine! Fine, that's just great!"_

The conversation from earlier with his mother replayed over in his head as Drake peeled out of Mindy's subdivision and started cruising toward the Premiere, for a lack of anywhere else to go. The anger from his fight with Mindy wasn't subsiding like he'd hoped, but he was momentarily distracted when his car seemed to be slowing down. He hit the gas harder to gain more speed and the car did the opposite.

"No, no, no," Drake muttered under his breath as he pulled over to the side of the road. Slowly, but surely, the car wheezed to a stop on the hot asphalt and he looked at the dashboard to see the gas gauge read empty. "Perfect, just perfect."

Stepping out of the car, he wasn't really sure of what to do. Cars whizzed by him on the street, as if to mock him, and he lost it. The sun was slowly sinking into the sky to create twilight, but it was still hot enough that Drake could feel beads of sweat drip down his neck as he kicked the wheels and the side of the car. It felt good to get his frustrations out physically, but he was still mad at the world when he stopped kicking the wheels. After a few minutes, he grabbed the keys, locked the car, and walked with each step feeling angrier than the one before it.

Ten minutes later, Drake walked into the blaringly bright lobby of the Premiere Theater and seeing Josh behind the counter didn't help to brighten his mood.

"Hello _Josh_," he said savagely as he walked up to the candy counter.

"Hi Drake," Josh replied quietly and that just infuriated him more. He understood that Josh was mad at him, but he wasn't acting like it and Drake didn't know how to cope with that.

"Why are you all sweaty?" Eric (or maybe Craig) asked from the other side of the counter.

"I'm all sweaty because I ran out of _gas_ and had to walk all the way here because _somebody_ forgot to fill up the car!" Drake answered vehemently, making sure to keep his eyes locked on his brother.

"It's not my responsibility to fill the car with gas," Josh explained.

"You always fill up the car!"

"_Used_ to. Now I put in just enough gas for myself."

"Well, _good_!" Drake spat back, though it clearly wasn't. "Good for you! I don't _need_ your gas! And just so you know, I'm gonna go see a movie right now and I don't need a free ticket from you because Mom paid me ten bucks to _get_ out of the house! So I don't need you for _anything_."

"Movie tickets here are _eleven_ dollars," a female voice piped up and Drake recognized her as Leah, the girl who worked on Josh's shift sometimes.

"What?!"

"And popcorn and soda are gonna cost you another six or seven," Craig (Eric?) added.

"_Oh_! You know what, I'm not even gonna _buy_ a ticket, I'm just _going_ in!" Drake exclaimed, walking toward a bank of theaters. "Just going right in!" When he reached the guy taking tickets, Drake felt no remorse in screaming in his face before continuing his walk into a random theater.

He picked a seat in the back of a random theater and plopped down as he felt the air conditioning start to cool him off. Drake slumped against the scratchy fabric and tried to ignore the pounding headache that had started as a dull ache when his car ran out of gas earlier.

When Drake tried to figure out what movie was playing on the screen, he noticed two security guards standing on either side of him.

"Sir, could we see your ticket?"

"I…I don't have one," Drake admitted. "But my brother works here, it's cool."

"Sir, please come quietly with us."

"What? No, no, it's fine!" he pleaded. "Or go ask Helen! She _loves_ me, seriously."

"Sir, please cooperate and don't make this harder on yourself. Come with us, we'll get this straightened out."

"Oh yeah? Make me."

In a flash, both security guards grabbed his arms and forcibly dragged him out of the theater.

"Hey, hey, let go, let go! Josh, Josh, tell them to let me go!" Drake screamed as the guards dragged him out into the lobby and past the candy counter. "Josh, Josh, tell them! Wait, I know this guy, I know this guy – ask him!"

"This guy a friend of yours?" the security guard closest to Josh asked and Drake saw no emotion coming from his brother's face.

"No, he's not."

Widening his eyes, Drake felt new waves of anger overtake him while the guards continued to drag him out of the theater. "Josh! Oh, you're gonna _regret_ this Josh! You _need_ me! You need _me_!"

The guards dumped him wordlessly on the sidewalk in front of the theater and Drake tried to keep it together long enough to call his mom and ask for a ride home.

--

The rest of the weekend was a quiet one. Drake stayed in bed all day Sunday and didn't get up for anything, not even when his phone rang. He was tired of being so amped up on anger and resentment and for what? To constantly run into the emotional brick wall that was formerly his brother? Fine, if Josh wanted to play that way, Drake could dish it right back out and he was starting to think that maybe some time apart would be a good thing if that's what it took to get Josh to come to his senses.

Monday morning came faster than he wanted it to and Drake woke up to a vacant bedroom; looking across the room, he saw that Josh's bed was already empty and made and when he looked at the clock, he realized he only had twenty minutes to make it to Mr. Roland's class on time.

Luckily, Megan's carpool was able to give him a lift (Megan pretended not to know who he was for the entire ride) and he raced down the slowly emptying hallways as the warning bells chimed throughout the school.

Turning the corner, Drake saw that the door to Mr. Roland's class was closing and he burst into a full out sprint before being able to make his way into the classroom.

"I'm here! I'm here, I'm here!" he proclaimed, out of breath as he shut the door behind him.

"Yes, with three seconds to spare," Mr. Roland told him.

"Sorry, it's just that _Josh_ used to wake me up every morning," Drake explained, gesturing toward his brother in the back of the class.

"_Used_ to," Josh replied and Drake couldn't think of a phrase he was more tired of hearing.

"Mr. Parker, your personal problems don't interest me," Mr. Roland interrupted. "Please go to your lab station."

"Yes, sir." Drake walked toward the table Josh was sitting at and waved hello to Kat. "Hey Kat."

"Hey Drake – is that a zit?" she asked incredulously. Drake, wide-eyed and nervous, turned around quickly to face her.

"Huh?" he asked, taking the compact mirror Kat handed him. Sure enough, a tiny, angry looking, red bump was starting to form on his chin. "Oh no! I've never had a zit before! I'm _Drake_, I don't get _zits_."

"Drake, please," Mr. Roland said, obviously tired of the interruptions.

"Why do I have a zit?"

"Just zit down!" Mr. Roland told him, before realizing his poor choice of words. "Sit! Sit down at your lab station."

Handing Kat back the compact, Drake made his way to his assigned seat before seeing that his classmate Rokey was already sitting there. He stood there, impatiently, before speaking when he realized Rokey wasn't going to move. "_Move_!"

"No," Rokey answered simply before looking at Josh.

"Rokey's my new lab partner," Josh stated, refusing to look Drake in the eye.

"Dude, _I'm_ your lab partner. I've been your lab partner all year!"

"I asked Mr. Roland if I could switch and now _Rokey_ is my new lab partner," Josh continued, still not making eye contact and the small action was starting to piss Drake off.

"I realize this is awkward," Rokey said, not helping the situation.

Mr. Roland walked up to Drake, who asked him a question; "Who's gonna be my lab partner now?"

"You will work with…Clayton."

Clayton, in all his dorky gloriousness, turned around in his seat and flashed a big, goofy smile. No one ever wanted to work with him because it was too difficult to understand him and Drake couldn't help expressing his discontent.

"Ohhh _no_!" he exclaimed, but he trudged over to the empty seat anyway, because what else was there to do? In doing so, he passed Craig and Eric's table and thought he heard some snickering and the word "nerd"; all Drake could do was sigh before he sat down.

"Hi Clayton," Drake said, trying to salvage the situation. The other boy smiled and waved again and Drake couldn't believe that this was only the beginning of what was shaping up to be a pretty awful day.

"All right, your instructions are on the board. Please begin your experiments," Mr. Roland announced before moving to sit at his desk and everyone in the classroom started to put on their safety goggles before getting to work.

With safety goggles in place, Drake snuck a look at the back of the classroom and saw Josh diligently pouring green liquid into a beaker. It made him sad to think that if he were back there right now, Josh would probably be doing all the work while he watched; sometimes Drake would make up little science songs to hum for whatever the experiment was until Josh either flipped out or laughed.

But now he turned back to his quiet lab table and grabbed a beaker filled with white powder and felt overwhelmingly confused as he turned to his new lab partner. "What am I supposed to mix this stuff with?"

Clayton, in his most unintelligible voice, made a few gestures, put a beaker filled with clear liquid in front of him, and mumbled out a few instructions.

"What?"

The question only seemed to irritate Clayton as his voice got louder and even harder to understand.

"I don't know what you're _saying_," Drake replied helplessly.

"Drake, you better hurry or Mr. Roland's going to get mad!" Eric interrupted quietly as he leaned across the aisle toward Drake.

"Well, I don't know what to do! Josh usually does everything and I just watch."

"Just take the magnesium sulfate-"

"No talking," Mr. Roland interrupted as he looked up from the book he was reading. Eric gave a shrug as if to apologize and he got back to working on his own experiment.

Drake looked up at the board, but the green marker detailing the instructions of the experiment could've have been written in French for all he knew. He looked over at Clayton, but he was too busy stirring liquids in his own beaker. Figuring it was best not to bother him again, Drake remembered the start of Eric's instructions; he grabbed for the beaker with the white powder that maybe could've been magnesium sulfate and poured it into the beaker with clear liquid. The last thing he expected to happen was having hot, neon green foam pour out of the beaker and over his hands.

"Whoa! Hey, hey what's happening? What's happening?" Drake started to exclaim and a burning, prickly sensation ran hot up the length of his arms as he continued to freak out. "Okay, arms tingling! _Arms tingling_!"

"Chemical emergency!" Craig exclaimed with panic in his eyes. He ran up from his table and pressed a button that caused an alarm to sound and a red light to flash as everyone looked up from their lab stations and focused on Drake.

"Let's get him in the power shower," Mr. Roland said to no one in particular and Drake was so focused on the way his arms felt that he didn't realize Mr. Roland had lifted him up from his chair and put him into the shower until the door closed in front of him.

Drake yelled loudly as the water, hot and burning, blasted over him and got everything wet. He continued yelling, wishing that the water temperature would go down as he put his arms directly under the water which seemed to help with the tingling sensation. It was getting harder to see with the steam billowing up on his safety goggles and Drake desperately hoped that this was all a dream. Unfortunately, he didn't wake up in the safety of his own bed, but the water did stop running.

"Drake, you can come out now," Mr. Roland said calmly, but Drake barely paid attention to him.

Instead, Drake pushed open the clear, plastic door and immediately shivered when cold air rushed over his warm, wet skin. He blindly made his way toward the door while trying to get water out of his eyes and the only thought that ran through his mind was that he had to get out of here. _Now_.

Mr. Roland had other plans though. The teacher kept calling after Drake, who was pointedly ignoring him until he threw out a frustrated _no_ over his shoulder. As he accidentally slid in his soaked sneakers toward the door, Drake dimly realized that all of this was his fault to begin with and that bad things were not going to stop coming unless he apologized to Josh.

"_Josh_!" It came out louder than he intended, but Drake focused on looking at the back of the room, at the person whom he demanded attention from.

"_What_?" Josh asked in a tone inflected with anger; it was the first emotion Drake had heard Josh direct at him in over a week.

"Look, I'm _sorry_!"

"Well-"

"Let me finish, okay? I was wrong, okay, I was _wrong_."

"What do you mean?" Josh asked and for the first time since they were supposed to be "done", he felt like Josh was really going to listen to him and right now, that meant everything.

"I need you more than you need me. I need you _way_ more than you need me, all right? I'm sorry!" Drake continued and once he started, he couldn't stop. His emotions raced at full throttle and he couldn't help the words that tumbled out of his mouth. "Man, I'm sorry I made you late for your exam and I'm sorry I ran over your bike. I'm sorry I'm probably the worst brother in the world and you're _way_ better off without me, you know, and I just need you to understand…"

His pause felt epic as his mouth finally caught up with his head and he realized he couldn't apologize for everything. Drake wanted to make Josh understand that nothing he ever did was meant to hurt him, that that was the last thing Drake ever wanted for Josh.

But 28 pairs of eyes besides Josh's were staring back at him and it took that split second for Drake to realize how vulnerable he felt and how much he needed to escape from this nightmare that was bleeding into his life.

"…I-I-I just…I'm sorry Josh, I'm sorry."

--

**After School, same day**

When the last bell rang for the day, Mindy made a quick stop at her locker before walking in the direction of Mr. Roland's room for Science Club. She didn't think it would be a good idea to head over to Drake's house after Cathy (who'd heard from Craig and Eric, who were telling _everyone_) had told her about the now infamous Drake Parker Meltdown. She wanted to reach out to him, but maybe it was best if he was by himself. They hadn't talked since their stupid argument on Saturday; she was contemplating being the bigger person when she saw Cathy running toward her.

"Mindy! I'm glad I caught you!" Cathy exclaimed when they met in the hallway. "Are you leaving yet?"

"No, I have Science Club in a few minutes," Mindy answered before she noticed how distressed her best friend looked. "Why, is something wrong?"

"I needed to find you," Cathy said while scanning the hallway. She pulled Mindy into an empty classroom and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I just heard something about Drake that I thought you should know."

"Cath, I've heard like five million different things about Drake all day. What's wrong now?"

"This is different. And I just want to say up front that I don't know if it's true, I'm just repeating what I heard. Don't shoot the messenger and all that, because I know how you get."

"If this is supposed to make me feel better, you're doing a _great_ job," Mindy replied sarcastically, hoping Cathy would get to the point.

"I'm sorry, just…kinda nervous here. Okay, anyway. So I'm in the bathroom, washing my hands, when Kat McCloud walks in with a couple of her friends and it was hard to _not_ eavesdrop, you know? I missed the beginning of the conversation, but basically Kat is going on and on about how Drake kissed her out of nowhere before Chemistry class a couple days ago and she's just all "like so devastated" about how he acted in class today and she wondered if it was something she did. Something about a zit and her mirror? I don't know, I just left to come find you."

"Drake kissed another girl?" Mindy asked, feeling like her stomach had been sucker punched. "Drake kissed _Kat_?"

"Wait, just think about this," Cathy said, trying to be calm for Mindy. "Kat McCloud is an evil, lying girl. You know she is such a drama queen."

"Why would Drake kiss her?"

"Exactly! It doesn't make sense, right?"

"No…yes. I don't know," Mindy answered as she rubbed her hand over her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm going over to see him. I need to get this straightened out."

"Wait, what about Josh? What if he's ditching the club meeting too?" Cathy asked, following her out into the hallway.

"He told me at lunch that he was going," Mindy shrugged. "Maybe he's trying to avoid Drake, I don't know. I'll call you later, okay?"

--

**Parker/Nichols' House, 20 minutes later**

Lying on the couch with the music blasting, Drake just barely heard the knock on his bedroom door. He begrudgingly slid off the sofa and made his way toward the door, not bothering to turn down the music. He didn't know who to expect, but surprise colored his face when he saw Mindy. They both stood for a moment before she spoke.

"The front door was open."

Drake nodded, not really caring how she got in. He threw his arms around her neck, happy to see a face that didn't hate him; it wasn't long before they were kissing, hotly mouthing at each other's lips as he pulled her into the room and closed the door behind her.

Her tongue swiped lightly over his bottom lip and Drake thought it was a miracle they didn't break their ankles while coming down the steps. They crashed soon enough on to the sofa; her bare knees knocking with his flannel covered ones as he felt the sofa cushions on his back soften their fall. She groaned when his lips moved from her mouth, over her jaw line, and started nipping the curve of her neck.

"Drake…" Mindy said softly, but he didn't stop. She thought maybe the music was too loud and this felt too good, but she had to stop it. "Drake…come on. You're gonna leave a mark."

Breaking the connection, she rolled away, walked toward the radio and decisively turned it off in the middle of a raging guitar solo. Silence blanketed the room as they both looked at each other; frustration was built up inside of her and confusion was written all over his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't come over here for…_that_," she told him as she straightened out her shirt. He lifted an eyebrow as she continued. "I need to ask you something."

"Okay," he answered slowly as she walked over and moved his feet off the couch so she could sit down.

"Drake…did you kiss Kat McCloud?"

He felt blood drain quickly from his cheeks and tried to swallow away his dry mouth before speaking. "What?"

"Cathy overheard her in the bathroom today talking about how you kissed her before class or something? Please tell me it's not true."

"Sort of," Drake said as he cringed on the inside.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Kat kissed me, okay? We were talking and out of nowhere, she just plants one on me," he told her apologetically while looking at his hands. When he lifted his head, it was hard to read her expression. "It's not a big deal."

"You would say that," Mindy muttered, all sorts of thoughts racing through her head. "When Cathy told me, I didn't believe her. I really thought that you'd changed, but I guess it was only a matter of time."

"Hey, I _have_ changed! Do you know what I've given up for you?"

"What you've given up for me? What are you trying to say, that I'm _holding_ you back from your potential as a future home wrecker?" she asked, mixture of sarcasm and anger, as she stood up from the couch.

"I didn't say you were holding me back so quit putting words in my mouth, _Mindy_."

"What are you trying to say then, _Drake_?"

"I don't know," Drake admitted as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess I'm just saying that I gave up a lot to be with you."

The room was quiet enough that a pin drop could've been heard as Mindy gave him a hard look. "Drake, you are _impossible_. For somebody who is trying to convince me that they've changed, you certainly sound a lot like the old Drake."

"Wait, hang on a sec-" he started to say as he stood up to meet her at eye level, but she poked him in the chest with her index finger.

"No, _you_ just hang on a second," Mindy said sternly. "I know you're going through a rough time, but I want to make it so crystal clear to you that I did not force you into this relationship."

"I know, but-"

"I'm sorry about what's going on with you and Josh, but we could've have told him earlier," she continued and when he looked like he was going to say something, she spoke over him. "Yes, we could have. It would've been hard, but we wouldn't be here right now arguing.

"And one more thing. I'm not mad that you kissed Kat or Kat kissed you, or whatever. But if you're going to sit there and try to tell me that you're sorry to be in this relationship, that you're having second thoughts or whatever, then maybe you shouldn't _be_ in this relationship."

He wished he could put a pause on all of this and take some time to figure this whole thing out because he felt like he was spinning way out of control. Anything he tried saying was getting blown out of context and he took a deep breath as she looked at him, waiting for some kind of response.

"I want to be with you," Drake told her pleadingly as he looked into her angry, brown eyes. He reached for her hand, holding it in his own as his thumb ran over the beads of the bracelet he gave her. Saying the words out loud gave him a little sense of clarity, but it wasn't enough for her.

"Then start acting like it. Tell Josh. Let's get everything out into the open."

"Yeah right, like it's that easy."

"It is easy! Look, I heard about Mr. Roland's class," Mindy told him. "What's the worst that could happen if you tell him now?"

He stood there with Mindy's hand in his own and he couldn't meet her pleading eyes; he just kept staring at the bracelet and he felt himself shake his head.

"No," he heard himself saying. "I can't…I can't tell him."

Mindy tore her hand away from his. "What? Why not? Do you want to be the old Drake again?"

"No, no it has nothing to do with that!" he tried explaining as Mindy crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyebrows. "Mindy…Josh is everything to me, you know? If I tell him this, he would be out of my life. For good."

"You don't know that!" she exclaimed. "Did you ever think that maybe he could be okay with this?" Mindy turned on her heel and made her way around the ping-pong table as she began to walk toward the desk. She picked up a snow globe that was sitting on top of a stack of papers and shook it as she continued. "I'm so sick of this argument Drake. Will he be mad or will he be okay? Just over and over again."

Drake flopped onto the couch and buried his face in his hands as his head hit the back of the couch. He let out a frustrated groan and dropped his hands when he felt the couch sink next to him; Mindy was there and it was hard to gauge how she was feeling. Probably just as confused as he was.

"Drake, we have to tell him," Mindy said in a small voice. "We _have_ to. I know it'll be hard, but I'll do this with you. Two heads are better than one, right? What do you say?"

He knew what she wanted to hear and he wanted to say it. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but fear laced through him and he couldn't look at her when he spoke.

"I'm not telling him." A shaky sigh and he spoke again. "You shouldn't either."

When Drake looked at her, it was hard to read her face. He thought that maybe her eyes looked a little glassy and when he thought about reaching for her, she broke eye contact and stood up.

He cringed when the sound of his bedroom door slammed and reverberated in the empty space. Drake stood up and filled the void with music from his stereo, but it didn't make him feel any better so he flipped the switch to off.

Grabbing a ping-pong paddle and a couple of orange balls, Drake climbed onto the hard, wooden surface of the table and curled his legs toward his chest. The argument was all he could think about and it was driving him crazy as the words replayed over in his head. He thought he was right; he had to be, he definitely knew Josh better than Mindy ever had. Who was she to doubt him? Shouldn't she just accept the fact that Josh could never find out about this?

Time stretched on as he slowly tortured himself by bouncing the ping-pong ball over and over again. He tried to concentrate on that instead of the niggling feeling that there was a teensy chance that Mindy could be right. He wanted so desperately for her to be wrong, but Drake couldn't ignore the validity in what she had said. Josh was clearly through with him, why not just come clean?

He kept thinking about that as he bounced the ping-pong ball and he vaguely heard the footsteps of someone entering the room.

"Hey," Megan said, making her presence known. "Here's your guitar."

He heard her footsteps get closer until she was standing near the end where his head was. A light thunk on the table and Drake looked toward her to see that she had propped his guitar up for him. Megan was one of the last people he wanted to see, but he couldn't muster up the energy to tell her to beat it.

"Thanks."

"You're not even going to ask _why_ I took your guitar?" she asked curiously.

"Why'd you take my guitar?"

"I used it to kill a spider," Megan replied, sounding proud. Any other day or even a half an hour ago, Drake would've blown up at her and pushed her out of the room and would've spent at least fifteen minutes going over every piece of his guitar. But he didn't.

Megan, confused by her brother's attitude, took the guitar off the table and moved it so that it stood properly in its stand. She turned back to face Drake and couldn't help but ask another question. "Okay, why aren't you freaking out? It's no fun messing with you if you're not gonna to freak out."

"I'm sorry."

He clearly wasn't, but she wasn't going to stick around any longer. "Okay."

"Hey."

Megan turned around and saw Drake standing, looking pitiful as he held a ping-pong ball in his hand. "Yeah?"

"Wanna play some ping-pong?"

"Nah. You _really_ don't wanna put a paddle in my hand."

Drake figured it was probably a good idea that she turned him down and watched as she made her way out of the bedroom. He walked over to one end of the ping-pong table and listlessly hit a ball to the other side. Watching as it bounced, he hit another ball before realizing how pathetic it was. He turned on his heel and thought that maybe he'd play with his guitar a little when he heard a familiar screech.

Turning, Drake faced the door to see Josh striking a samurai pose in the doorway of their bedroom.

"Mwahaha. We have unfinished business, Young Szechwan," Josh said, complete with a goofy samurai accent. Drake was stunned to see him, acting as though the past week had never happened. All that Drake could think about was if Josh was picking now to start talking to him, maybe they should talk about everything and maybe he should lay it out on the line. He could practically see the picture of Mindy's face in his head of how happy she would be; after all, as she had said, what did he have to lose?

"Josh-"

"Wa-Chaa!" Josh exclaimed, interrupting. "You will only address me as Master Monguku."

The moment they were having, it was nice, Drake realized. That with all their joking aside, Josh was back. Maybe his outburst of a speech had done it to change Josh's mind; as Drake looked at Josh and saw the best friend, the brother that he missed so much, he knew it would hurt too much to disappoint him again.

For the first time in what felt like days, Drake smiled. Josh smiled back and for a minute, Drake could forget and it felt okay.

"Your words, they are strong," Drake said, playing along with his own goofy accent. "But your skills are weak!"

"Your foolishness, Young Szechwan, has sealed your fate!"

"Destiny is mine!"

The paddle swung back, Drake served the ball over the net, and he couldn't have been happier to see Josh serve it right back.


	18. You Really Got A Hold On Me

**Author's Notes:** I do not own _Drake & Josh_, I am making no profit whatsoever, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. This story will deal with adult themes (ie sexuality), so if you're uncomfortable with that please go read another story. All reviews/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged.

This chapter contains spoilers for Eric Punches Drake.

--

It took a couple days to digest what had happened and when it did, Mindy remembered the exact moment

She had been walking down the hallway at school and through the crowd of students, she saw Drake talking to Josh, and they were both laughing in a way that she hadn't seen in a long time. It was such a small thing, but she rushed to the bathroom anyway and locked herself in a stall while trying not to hyperventilate.

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't that she was upset for Drake picking Josh over her. The two boys had been through a lot together and it never would have occurred to her to ever give him an ultimatum like that. It just hurt that he'd rather keep it all a secret, like he was subconsciously ashamed of her or something. The thought alone caused a tear to roll down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. Mindy had told herself that she wasn't going to waste tears on this, but the bell rang for class and she found herself wallowing in the girls' bathroom, alone, hurt, and confused.

She lost track of the time, but she figured being in class would be able to keep her mind off of everything else. Pushing the door open, Mindy left the bathroom and walked briskly down the hallway before turning a corner and running into something (or rather, _someone_).

"Hey, watch where you're…" Mindy said angrily, but her sentence trailed off when she made eye contact with the other person. "…going."

"Sorry about that," Josh answered, looking at the floor. Papers were spilled all over the linoleum that she had accidentally knocked out of his hands. They both bent over to start picking them up and Mindy was intensely aware of the prickly, guilty feeling racing up her spine.

"No, I'm sorry. I should've been watching where I was walking." She handed him the last sheets and they both stood up while she tried to avoid eye contact. "See you around, Josh."

"Wait!"

He caught up with her and they were walking down the hallway together, their footsteps in sync as they went from one linoleum corridor to the next. She didn't know what to do or what to say and Josh wasn't giving her any indication that he wanted to talk about something. They were almost at her class before Mindy stopped walking and turned to face him.

"This is my class," she told him pointedly. "I'll see you around."

"Hang on Mindy," Josh said, looping his hand around her elbow as she started to turn away. "I'm having a movie night at my house tonight, if you're interested. Craig and Eric are coming over and you can invite Cathy if you want. It'll be fun."

She remembered those movie nights, back when she and Josh were happy together. Craig and Eric would argue over whether to watch the movie first with or without commentary, Josh would provide limeade and his special brownies (an interesting combination, to say the least), and Cathy would throw popcorn at the boys until they stopped arguing and it turned into an all-out popcorn war.

It was nice, back then.

--

"You said _yes_?"

Mindy didn't respond, just kept in step with Cathy as they both walked home from school that afternoon.

"Are you crazy?" Cathy continued, shifting her backpack strap.

"It's not that crazy of an idea," Mindy muttered, keeping her eyes straight ahead on the sidewalk path. "We used to hang out together all the time."

"What if Drake's there?"

"He can be there if he wants. It's his house too."

"You really don't think he'll wig if you're there?"

"You know what Cath, I don't really care what Drake does or doesn't do," Mindy said, irritation tingeing her voice. "My _friend_ Josh invited me over for a movie and that's it." They walked a few more steps in silence before she continued. "Besides, _he_ could've fixed the problem."

"I know."

"'_Hey Josh, Mindy and I are dating'_" Mindy said, badly imitating Drake's voice. "How hard would that have been to say?"

"It wouldn't have been."

"Exactly. He wants to keep it a secret and I can't do that anymore." A few birds flew noisily in front of them, but the silence from her best friend was deafening. "Am I wrong?"

"I didn't say that," Cathy replied carefully. "I just think it's interesting that you're willing to go back there so soon, if you and Drake are supposedly broken up."

"I don't know what Drake and I are. But for once, this isn't about him and I'm just trying to be a good friend to Josh."

They walked in a silence a bit longer, weaving in out of the shadows from trees as they entered Cathy's subdivision. Some birds chirped overhead and there was the hum of sprinklers tch-tch-tcccccching on a distant lawn.

"So let me tell you what I heard about Betsy Jacobs today…"

Mindy welcomed the subject change as their feet continued the steady rhythm until they arrived at Cathy's house.

--

**Parker/Nichols' House, later that night**

"You sure you're ready?"

"Cath, it's not going to be that bad." To prove her point, Mindy reached over and rang the doorbell. She couldn't deny the tiny attack of butterflies in her stomach, but she sure wasn't going to admit their existence.

The door opened and revealed Josh's dad, Walter, greeting them with a wide smile. "Hello girls, come on in."

"Hi Mr. Nichols," they replied in unintentional unison.

"Josh is waiting for you in the kitchen," Walter started as Josh appeared at his side, looking distressed.

"_Dad_! I said I would get the door."

"I know, but I was closer. I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Walter promised, making his way toward the staircase. Josh rolled his eyes as he turned toward Cathy and Mindy.

"Hi. Craig and Eric are here, they're in the kitchen," Josh gestured as they all started walking in that direction.

"Has the arguing started yet?" Cathy asked and he didn't have to answer her. Josh opened the door and they all got the answer.

"_If we watch the commentary_ before _the movie, it ruins the experience if we're watching it for the first time._"

"_But watching the commentary before the movie means we can know all the facts when we watch the film without the commentary._"

"_YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!"_

"Guys!" Josh interrupted, waving so that the other two boys would take notice. "Why don't we let the girls decide?"

"Without," Cathy said decidedly and Mindy nodded in agreement. Eric looked pleased and Craig looked annoyed while Josh grabbed the plate of his special Fudgie Boos.

"Come on, let's go start our commentary-less movie."

"What's the point?" Craig muttered as he passed Mindy, who grinned.

It was just like old times.

--

**A few hours later, outside the Parker/Nichols' house**

Craig's mom had picked up Craig and Eric moments ago and now Mindy was standing on the porch with Josh as they waited for Cathy to get out of the bathroom. The night was warm enough that Mindy held her jacket in her hands and she looked up to see some of the stars that were able to peek out from behind the clouds and California smog.

"Hey, um…" Josh started and she turned her attention from the sky to his face. "I'm glad you could come tonight."

"Thanks for inviting me. You were right, it was a lot of fun."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Did you just admit I was right about something?"

"Oh, ha ha." She jokingly hit his arm as he grinned while looking down at the porch.

"Seriously, though. I'm glad that we're friends now," he continued. "It was weird there for a little while, running into you all over school. And then with Lisa, I never saw you…" He trailed off before looking into her eyes. "It's just that, we're good. Now."

"Yeah," Mindy said shortly, feeling guilt rise up the back of her throat. Luckily, before she could say anything else, Cathy appeared.

"All right, let's go. Thanks for everything Josh."

"Yeah, no problem. See you guys tomorrow."

--

Drake climbed in through the window a couple hours later, surprised to see Josh still awake in his bed reading a Persons magazine.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Wasn't tired. Where were you?"

"Alicia Moore's backseat."

"That's…you know what, I don't need to hear anymore," Josh deadpanned as he set his book down. Drake shot him a sly grin as he started rooting through his dresser drawers for his pajamas.

"What did you end up doing?"

"Had a movie night with Craig, Eric, Cathy, and Mindy. It was a lot of fun, Craig said the funniest thing-"

Drake didn't hear what Craig said because he felt like he'd been sucker punched when Mindy's name came up. He remembered the movie nights when she was dating his brother, how they would be snuggled up on the couch and called each other their disgustingly adorable nicknames. The jealousy made his cheeks hot and he angrily shoved the drawer shut.

"Whoa, you okay Drake?"

"Huh? Yeah," Drake said quickly, trying to find a cover. "Stupid drawer…gets…stuck."

"Oh. So anyway, the hippo is doing back flips and Craig's like, '_I hope he doesn't get water up his nose!_'" Josh waited for laughter, but all he got was a weak smile.

"Hilarious. Sounds like a good time with The Dork Squad."

Josh rolled his eyes, figuring Drake was being sarcastic, and went back into his book. Drake, pajamas in hand, walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom as he tried to be quiet, lest he wake up his parents.

He winced at the light, but shut the door quietly before pulling out his cell phone and debated calling Mindy despite the late hour. But it's not like in the old movies where you can call a girl and hang up when she answers because everybody's got caller ID now and doesn't that just suck.

He put his cell phone on the counter and began to change into his pajamas, trying not to give her another thought.

--

**The next day, Belleview High, before first period**

Mindy raced as fast as she could without full out running toward the library, eager to grab a computer before classes started. Her printer broke before she left for school and she wasn't able to print off the book report that was due for her second class. She was praying the computers wouldn't all be taken when she spotted Drake chatting up some girl in front of the only door that gave access into the library.

She walked right up to them, expecting him to stop leaning against the door, but was met with a cool look of indifference instead.

"Can I help you?"

"_Move_."

"Now that's not very friendly. Can I hear the magic word?"

As if he hadn't screwed with her head enough for the past six months, she couldn't believe they were resorting back to their hateful relationship from before. At least two could play at his little game.

"Move _now_," Mindy insisted, grabbing his earlobe and pulling hard enough that he fell to his knees, a mix of surprise and pain on his face. The girl he was talking to gasped and inexplicably ran off while Mindy had her eyes locked on Drake's clouded brown ones; it was hard to read any emotion on his face.

But he cracked a devious grin, confusing her, before speaking low enough that only she could hear. "Didn't know you liked it _this_ rough."

She dropped her hand like she'd been burned and gave him a dirty look before stepping over him and walking into the library, ignoring the crowd of kids that had gathered by the window.

--

**Two weeks later**

The days were starting to pass a little easier as Mindy kept her distance from Drake, which wasn't difficult. He wasn't coming after her, like she stupidly half hoped for, and when she saw him with other girls around school she didn't deny the sting of betrayal. But the sooner she moved on with her life, the better it got, despite the situation.

She gave her studies a renewed sense of confidence and when a math test came around, Mindy spent whatever free time she had cramming for it. When the day came, she was thrilled to be the first one done and was actually starting to feel like her old self again.

Walking out to her locker, Mindy was in an extraordinarily good mood from having aced her test as Josh appeared by her side.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey!"

"Could you believe that test?" he asked.

"Oh I know; it was so easy!" Mindy replied, eager to share her good mood.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, _too_ easy," Josh said, twitching his eyes back and forth like he didn't believe her for one minute; she smiled as he continued. "Anyway…uh, I'm having a movie night at my house this Saturday. You wanna come by?"

"Oh, sure," she agreed easily, remembering how well the last time went. Craig and Eric appeared behind Josh and Craig's eyes lit up excitedly.

"Hey, we should one of those cheesy karate movies from the 70s!"

"Oh, like _Dragons of Death_!" Eric added happily.

"That would be sick," Josh agreed as Mr. Roland walked down the hallway toward them.

"Josh, Mindy, the new Chemistry textbooks just arrived. They're in my classroom," the teacher said, gesturing with his hands. Josh looked at Mindy and she could tell that he was just as excited as she was.

"No way!"

"Aw, _come on_," Josh added gleefully, following her as they raced down the hallway to catch up with Mr. Roland.

When they reached the room, Josh could barely contain his joy as he hopped a little behind Mindy and their teacher. Mr. Roland couldn't open the door fast enough and Josh could see the textbooks, stacked up beautifully on his desk and in cardboard boxes next to his desk and it was almost too much to take.

"Wow," Mindy breathed, echoing his sentiments.

"Well come in, come in," Mr. Roland instructed, waving at them. "Come take a look."

They both walked cautiously toward his desk, as though the books were just a mirage and they would disappear at any moment. But Josh reached out and touched one, feeling the cellophane wrinkle under his finger and he tried to control himself from letting out giggles that were threatening to escape.

"Can I…can I hold one?" Josh asked carefully.

"Go right ahead."

They both picked one up, testing it out its weight, and Mindy held it to her chest and gave it a big squeeze. "This is amazing. It's been _fifteen years_ since this school has gotten new books."

"It's a miracle," Josh agreed, staring at the picture of Bunsen burners that adorned the cover.

"Well I'm glad you two are so excited," Mr. Roland smiled. "Would you mind helping me tear the cellophane off the books?"

"You mean we get to touch all the books first?" Mindy asked, as though he was kidding.

"If you'd like."

The two of them could not have started fast enough. At one point, Josh looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Mindy's expression matched how excited he felt on the inside and he couldn't imagine sharing this experience with anyone else.

--

**That afternoon, Crenshaw's House**

Mindy walked through the front door, making sure to take off her shoes before walking through the rest of the house. There was a strange car in the driveway and she was curious to find out whom it belonged to. She walked into the kitchen, hoping to find her mother for some answers, but the answer was standing next to the island.

"Oh my god, _Chad_!" Her favorite cousin had a wide smile on his face and scooped her up as she ran to him for a hug. "Why are you here? I thought we were going to visit you for Christmas! I can't believe how long your hair has gotten! I can't believe you're _here_!"

"Whoa, slow down," Chad said, giving her an easy grin. "My parents decided to move here for my dad's job and I wanted to surprise you when you got home from school, which obviously worked."

"Obviously," Mindy agreed happily. "I can't believe that _you_ kept a secret."

"Hey, stranger things have happened."

She sized him up and down, not able to contain the smile on her face. She threw her arms around him again and squeezed tight so the reality could sink in. "I'm so glad you're here. You can meet my friends and I'll show you around town and you'll feel like you're at home in no time."

"Great, I can't wait."

--

**Saturday Night, Josh's Movie Night**

When people started to arrive for Josh's movie night, Drake was in the hall bathroom, staring at his black eye. It wasn't as tender as yesterday, but the bruising made it look worse than it was. Frankly, he was just glad to see out of it again; the first ten minutes in the nurse's office had been rough.

"_All right people grab a treat and find your seat! The movie's about to start in nine minutes!"_

Drake heard Josh before he saw him as he wandered from the bathroom and into the kitchen. He looked into the living room and saw it packed with familiar looking kids from school, walking around and eating Josh's homemade snacks.

"Hey, what movie are you guys watching?" Drake asked Walter, who had just closed the refrigerator door. They hadn't seen each other since before Drake's accidental black eye due to his late shift at the news station, so Walter was surprised as he leaned in to get a closer look at the bruising.

"What…did you get in a fight at school?"

"Oh, oh…no, not exactly…"

"It's okay, I understand. I used to get beat up at school all the time," Walter recalled, a dreamy look on his face. "They used to call me 'Walter the Doof'. In fact, one time, I- "

"Have you ever read a book called 'Embarrassed to _Death_' by M.Y. Dad?" Josh asked, interrupting. Drake shot him a grateful look, but other boy didn't notice. Sometimes they had to run interference when Walter geared up for one of his long stories.

"M.Y. Dad?" Walter asked, not getting it.

"See ya!" Josh pushed him through the foyer and toward the stairs while the doorbell rang. Alone in the kitchen, Drake decided to wander into the living room to find a snack while Josh answered the door.

"Heeey, what's up Craig?"

"Evening."

"Where's Eric?"

"Oh, he didn't want to come. He was afraid Drake might be mad at him because he punched him in the eye."

"He's not mad. Drake, you're not mad, are you?"

Drake grabbed a pretzel before turning to answer. "No, I'm not mad. Craig didn't mean to hit me."

"_I'm_ Craig."

Drake scoffed. "It matters." He turned back to the snack table, not giving the boy another thought. He was about to grab some potato chips when the doorbell rang again and Josh called for him from the kitchen.

"_Yo Drake, get that?"_

"Got it!" He walked into the foyer to open the door; Mindy was standing on the other side and his mouth reacted faster than his brain did. "Ohhh, is it Halloween already? Aren't you a _scary_ little witch?"

"Aww, look at your black eye. Wow, I hope it hurts," Mindy replied in the same sarcastic tone. They were falling back into old patterns and this, this he could deal with.

"She-beast."

"Micro-brain."

"Weird face."

"Ignoramus."

That last insult threw him for a loop. "…What?"

"Exactly!" Mindy threw her hand up in the air as some guy Drake had never seen before sauntered up the lawn and on to the porch behind her. He greeted her with a 'hey' and Drake noticed the way she relaxed and gave the mystery guy a bright smile.

"Sorry, I had to park the car at the bottom of the hill," the guy explained.

"Oh, no problem," Mindy assured him before turning back to Drake. She used the back of her hand to push on his shoulder before continuing. "Step aside."

She glided past Drake and the guy gave him an empathetic shrug, but he could've cared less. Mindy? With another guy? He wanted to freak out about this, but all he could do was find the one person he knew who overreacted about everything.

"JOSH!"

Surprised, Josh accidentally flipped over the movie projector before groaning. "Ohh, now I gotta reset the white balance!"

"No, I need to talk to you!" Drake turned to Craig and gave him a look. "Get out." Craig rolled his eyes and left the kitchen as Josh turned to look at Drake.

"What?"

"Mindy's here."

"I know. I invited her."

Well, _of course_ he did, Drake thought. Of course Josh would try to be friends with everybody, _including_ his ex, no matter how many times in the past Drake tried to tell him how bad of an idea that was.

"Did you invite _him_?" Drake asked, grabbing Josh's hair to turn his head toward the living room. Mindy and her date were chatting calmly by the couch as if they didn't have a care in the world.

"Who's him?" Josh asked innocently.

"Her _date_!" Drake stated matter-of-factly.

"_Her_…" Josh trailed off, obviously upset as he tried not to yell in surprise. He was able to regain composure before continuing. "I don't care."

"Yes you do! Now go out there and make a scene!" Drake suggested, wanting to do exactly what he was advising. But he held back, plied his brother with evil ideas, and prayed Josh wouldn't ask why he was getting so bent out of shape over Mindy and this new guy she had decided to parade around.

"No! All right, Mindy and I broke up. She's allowed to date whoever she wants," Josh explained calmly. He almost looked convinced while saying it.

"And you're _cool_ with that?" The words weighed heavily in Drake's mouth as he waited anxiously for the answer. It was a question that he probably should've asked a long time ago, but no one said Drake was known for his timing.

"Sure, I'm cool."

Drake rolled his eyes and turned away as Josh left the kitchen to enter the living room, ready to start the movie night. "Okay everyone! The movie's about to start, please sit down."

"_Can I use the restroom real qui-"_

Drake heard the question start to come out of Mindy's date's mouth and smirked when he heard Josh's response:

"_SIT DOWN!_"

Yeah, Josh was _real cool_ with everything.

--

An hour into _Dragons of Death_, Mindy couldn't ignore her need for a drink as she looked around the room. All the lights for the downstairs had been turned off and everyone was bathed in the glow of the movie that was streaming from the projector. She slipped off the couch and tried to walk over the kids sitting on the floor without too much disruption. Once she was in the kitchen, the projector's glow made it a little easier to walk around, but most of the room was covered in shadow and as a result, she ran her side into the corner of the island.

Mindy made her way to the fridge by groping along the side of the island while absentmindedly rubbing her side. She was moving closer toward the darkness and it was getting harder to see; she didn't expect to feel a warm hand on the refrigerator handle.

"Oh my god!"

Her yelp, fortunately, coincided with the loud music of an action scene and she stepped back out of instinct, closer to the light. The body attached to the hand followed her and in the glow, she was able to make out the figure.

"Drake?"

"Ignoragmus," he answered, incorrectly stealing her insult from earlier. She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm instead of correcting him.

"What are you doing? You scared me half to death!"

"I came to get a macaroon. What are you doing? Getting macaroons for you and your _date_?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Oh, _am_ I?"

"_Yeah_, you are." She turned to get back to the movie when he grabbed her wrist unexpectedly. She looked at his hand and at his shadowed face. "Let go of me."

"Just…" Drake started, before trailing off. He pulled her instead and stupidly she followed. Out of the kitchen, through the foyer, and into the dark hallway where he guided her into the tiny bathroom. He didn't immediately go for the light switch, but she heard the door click shut as they stood in complete darkness.

"Drake, what are you doing?"

Instead of responding, his fingers slid around the back of her neck as he pulled her head toward his and their lips came together, crashing into a rough kiss. She was stunned for a moment until he started moving and then everything got…blurry.

In one swift move, her back was pressed up against the door as his tongued traced the invisible seam on her bottom lip and everything was back like it was and it was a little scary but a lot more exciting. All of her friends and Chad and geez, _Josh_, were out there, all involved in the movie and her world was centered on the fact that Drake's hand was sliding under her bare thigh and bringing it close to his hip as everything under her skin began to melt. Mindy allowed herself to get lost as she dug her fingers through his soft hair, but a whimper shot out of her mouth when his hand accidentally dug into the small bruise forming on her hip from her run in with the island. She pulled her lips away from his, but he didn't get the hint; Drake just moved his mouth down the column of her neck as she tried to regain focus.

"Drake…Drake, stop."

"Why?" He murmured against her skin and she knew she had to untangle herself from him. Blindly groping for the switch, the sudden light caused both of them to wince. Her leg dropped to the floor, but he didn't let go of her side as he placed his forehead against hers.

"We can't do this," she told him softly. A million reasons ran through her head, the most prevalent being that she didn't want to keep this relationship a secret anymore. But she felt his grin against her forehead before he kissed the skin there as he answered her.

"I think we're doing a pretty good job."

"Drake…"

"Mindy…"

There was a heavy silence between them and she could feel his chest meet hers, rising and falling with each breath. It had hurt to stay away from each other for this long, hurt even more to fall back into their old routines. She knew he loved her; he just had a not so funny way of wanting to keep it from everybody else. It wasn't fair.

"You can't do this to me," she continued, using her palms to push against his shoulders. Drake took a few steps back and watched as she straightened out her blue and yellow sweater. "You can't just expect me to be with you when it's convenient for you. That's not how this works anymore."

"But Josh said he was cool with you having another boyfriend."

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"Does he know that _you_ were the other boyfriend?"

"Well…not _exactly_," Drake admitted.

She let out a frustrated groan as she used her hands to cover her face. "God, it's like talking to a brick wall." Dropping her hands, Mindy looked directly into his eyes and made sure her words were clear. "Stay away from me. It's a lot easier that way."

She turned and exited the bathroom, making sure to get back to the couch as fast as possible. When she settled in next to Chad, he leaned over as she noticed Josh had turned to look at her too.

"You were gone awhile. Are you okay?" Chad asked, whispering in her ear.

"I'm fine," Mind answered tersely, crossing her arms over her stomach. She avoided Josh's gaze until she saw out of the corner of her eye that he went back to watching the movie.


	19. Consequences Of What I Chose

author's note; for all of you who have been reading and commenting, i cannot thank you enough (seriously). i am so sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but i hope you enjoy it. just a heads up, it includes the episode "Eric Punches Drake".

--

He's not exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere between the movie starting and everybody leaving, Josh found himself inexplicably drawn toward Mindy. Again.

This was supposed to be an innocent thing. Movie night with a few friends should absolutely be no big deal. But Mindy showed up with this guy, this _Chad_ person, and Josh had a hard time concentrating on the movie or the party after the two of them had arrived. He kept telling himself to watch the screen, pay attention to his friends, but his eyes kept coming back to her, watching as she and Chad whispered over the movie and laughed at all the funny parts, and man, it killed him more than he was willing to admit.

Josh didn't mention anything to Drake that night, as they were getting ready for bed; frankly, he didn't want to hear it. Drake had a very strict policy about ex-girlfriends and how they are "exes for a _reason_ Josh, get over it". Josh didn't need to hear the speech again.

Come to think of it though, Drake had been pretty quiet the whole night too. He'd bailed halfway through the movie and Josh had found him on the sofa in their room, red stratocaster stretched out over his stomach while he was mindlessly flipping through television channels. Josh figured he was probably still upset over his black eye and thought it best not to broach the subject. He quietly changed into his pajamas and muttered a good night as he turned out the light before climbing into bed. The room was bathed in a muted, blue glow from the television; when Josh woke up a few hours later to go to the bathroom, the TV was off and Drake was still passed out on the couch, snoring softly.

The next day came too slowly after that weird night. Josh hadn't slept very well, tossing and turning before giving up and watching his clock tick, tick, tick from 8:30 to 9:00 am when his alarm loudly went off. Sighing, Josh turned it off and padded toward the bathroom so he could get ready for school. Already, he felt this was going to be the longest day ever.

--

Drake showed up at the Premiere after school let out, bored and looking for something to do. This thing with Mindy was still bugging him, but after last night during Josh's little party...he had to get his mind off of it. _He_ was the one who had broken things off, the one who was too chicken to make a real relationship. And yeah, Mindy had told him to stay away from her, but their chemistry, their spark was still there if last night in the bathroom had counted for anything. In any case, Drake was getting mixed signals and he was done with it. Going back to being the old Drake would probably do everybody a lot of good. Being at the Premiere should've gotten him into gear, but he looked at the girls, the pretty girls walking around, and got depressed. The old Drake didn't hold as much appeal as it used to, which irritated him even more. Plus, his eye was still sore and he sulked about it while standing at the candy counter, hanging out with Josh and Crazy Steve.

"No, no, no. First, I gave Drake a warning," Craig Blonnowitz said, catching the attention of both Drake and Josh. Craig's arm is draped around the shoulders of a pretty blonde girl and Drake's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I says to him, I says 'Hey Drake, no one makes fun of my sister.' He just kept running his mouth. So I had to pop him one right in the eye."

"Wow, it's so great that you stood up to him like that!" the girl replied, awed.

"Well, I like Drake but he had it coming," Eric said and Drake could hardly believe it. Just earlier that day, Eric had told him that there was no way he'd started those rumors and he didn't know where they were coming from. And besides, who did Eric think he was, strutting around with a group of pretty girls? If Drake couldn't muster up the energy to do the same, he wasn't going to let some super dork take his place.

"Did you hear that?" Drake asked, turning around to ask Josh. Josh nodded and that's all the encouragement he needed to go confront Eric. "Hi _Eric_."

"Oh, uh...hey Drake," Eric greeted him, at least having the decency to sound nervous.

"You told me you weren't the one that was going around saying-"

"Why don't you guys get us a table over there, huh?" Eric interrupted, turning to his group of girls. "Order me a diet Mountain Fizz." They left in a flurry of giggles and soon the two boys were left alone.

"What are you doing? You hit me by _accident_," Drake reminded him.

"I know, I know."

"Well then why did you start the rumors that you beat me up because I made fun of your sister?"

"Okay, I didn't start the rumors! I even tried to stop them!" Eric explained. "But you know how kids gossip and exaggerate. And then everybody was so impressed that I stood up to you that I was like, _instantly_ popular. Did you see that girl I was with?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"She asked _me_ out. Usually if I even talk to a girl like that, she calls the police!"

"Look, I don't care, okay?" Drake answered, unsympathetic to Eric's problems. He'd dealt with enough teasing for the past couple of days that it was grating his nerves. "I'm not gonna let you get popular by make me look like a wimp _and_ a jerk. You're gonna start telling the truth."

"No."

"No? What do you mean no?" Drake asked, taken aback by Eric's new attitude.

"I am finally popular! I will not go back to the cold loneliness of Planet Nerd! Sorry."

Drake watched as Eric walked over to the table that the girls had saved for him and he found it hard not to feel angry and dejected as he made his way back to the candy counter. Crazy Steve stood on the inside, occasionally squeezing his stress reliever while Josh was looking at something. Or _someone_, Drake realized when he noticed Mindy and that Chad guy hanging out with Cathy and a few other kids he didn't recognize. He hadn't noticed them come into the theater, but it just put even more of a damper on his sour mood.

He heard Josh mutter something and then his brother was over there, pulling Mindy out of her group and Drake tried hard not to focus on the two of them. But bits and pieces of their sudden argument floated over to him;

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"First you bring your new boyfriend to my house and now here?"_

_"What, you mean Chad?"_

_"Oh, so his name's CHAD. Oh that's perfect! Chaaaad!"_

_"Josh Nichols, are you jealous?"_

Drake didn't know about Josh, but to answer her question: yes, yes he was and it made him even angrier. He knew it would be hard to get over her, what with seeing her in school and at the Premiere and pretty much damn near everywhere. But each time he saw her with _Chad_ was like a slap in the face and jealousy was so new to him, he wasn't quite sure what to do. Standing at the counter and letting Josh inadvertently fight his battle seemed like a good idea, but he could still hear their fight;

_"What is your problem?"_

_"I got no problem, no problem at all! So why don't you go do with Chad whatever it is that you and Chad do! I don't care one bit!"_

_"Really?!"_

_"Zero bit!"_

After that last part, Josh is back behind the counter and Drake watched as Mindy got all huffy and spun on her heel to get back to her table. He doesn't think he can contain his own anger and jealousy in front of Josh, despite the fact that his ability to lie to Josh has gotten exponentially better in the last couple of months. Before he can bail though, he heard a couple of kids laughing behind him.

"That's the kid who got beat up by a dork!" The random kid laughs while pointing (pointing!) at Drake and this point, he can barely take it. The kids run off and Crazy Steve showed up then and presented his stress reliever.

"You really should try this."

--

**The next day, The Premiere**

Despite the craziness of yesterday, Drake was feeling excited after having talked to Craig by the dumpsters the night before. With Craig's help, he had a definite plan that would help take down Eric's rising popularity star while also getting everybody to stop teasing him. It made him happy as he walked into the Premiere, passing Josh as he did so. Josh was muttering something about "Oprah" and "_Chad_" and "ginger ale" that Drake didn't quite understand (or want to, for that matter), so he kept moving while Josh made his way toward Helen's office.

Craig's plan ended up being fool proof and by the time Eric had accidentally punched Samantha in the eye, Drake almost felt bad for the little dork.

"I knew my popularity wouldn't last," Eric said dejectedly as he stood to Drake's right. Drake put his hand on Eric's shoulder and tried to be sympathetic.

"It's okay. You were never meant to be popular."

Eric gave him a look that Drake didn't think twice about; he was feeling so good that he turned around and extended his hand to take Samantha away from the guys that had helped her off the floor. She took his hand gratefully and they walked off, leaving Eric behind with his disintegrating group of "friends".

"So Samantha," Drake started, excited how things in life were going on an upswing. "You wanna go see a movie and not watch it?"

She nodded as she giggle, slight blush coloring her cheeks as she followed him around the bend where there were a bank of benches. And as if his life were a comedy of errors, Drake spotted Mindy walking toward them and he wasn't sure who looked more surprised. Before he could say anything or decide if he even wanted to say anything, Mindy sauntered by him and her arm crashed with his a little harder than he would've expected. His eyes followed her up to the platform where Chad and Cathy were waiting and it was like yesterday all over again as a brief numbness swallowed him up. He caught her looking back at him as she tucked her hair behind her ear and it was hard to miss seeing the bracelet he'd given her still hanging on her wrist.

It was also hard to miss the smile she gave to Chad.

"Well that was rude," Samantha said, breaking him out of thought.

"Huh?"

"That girl, knocking into you like that," Samantha explained.

"Oh...yeah. Well, it's okay though. I'm a pacific," Drake told her, trying to get Mindy out of his head.

"A pacific?"

"Yeah. It means somebody who doesn't fight," he said confidently, relaying the new knowledge he'd learned from the night before.

"Oh. Well that's nice." Samantha smiled up at him when the reached the line for the ticket counter and he tried to get back the confident feeling he'd had only moments before.

--

The minute his shift was over, Josh left The Premiere as fast as he could. When he reached home, he didn't even acknowledge the presence of his mom or Megan; just bolted up to the room he shared with Drake and flopped back on his bed while covering his face with his hands as he let out a giant whoosh of breath.

It's not that he didn't expect Mindy to move on; she was _supposed_ to. Josh certainly had since their breakup and she wasn't throwing any hissy fits in The Premiere like he just had (embarrassingly so). It wasn't even about the guy that she apparently chose with his wonderful and amazing stories about meeting the President and Oprah. _Oprah. Winfrey._ All right, so maybe that was something to be a little envious over.

No, what bothered Josh was the way she chose to flaunt her relationship in front of him. He had done the courtesy of not doing the same with Lisa, but obviously this is where they differed. He had seen the way Mindy goaded Chad into telling his Oprah story while he just so happened to be standing right there, had seen the way her eyes had a mischievous glint to them. His cheeks burned just thinking about it and really, he's not sure why he's so surprised. Mindy parading her new boyfriend around was just another reminder that she liked to one up him, that she had to be the best at _everything_.

Grabbing a magazine from his bedside table, Josh didn't want to think about it anymore. He flipped over on to his stomach and began turning the glossy pages, but his heart wasn't really in it. Page after page of young Hollywood, he found himself feeling more dejected and rejected and to be honest, it really sucked.

"Hi."

Josh turned his head and couldn't muster the energy to get worked up over the fact that Mindy was standing in his doorway with a blank expression of her own. "What are you doing here?"

"You seemed a little upset when you left the Premiere," Mindy said, jumping right into the topic he was trying to avoid. Well, okay, he thought as he got off the bed. If she wanted to talk about it, then he was going to lay it all out.

"What do you expect? I mean, I know we're broken up, but that doesn't give you the right to rub your new boyfriend in my face."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Look, I don't care what you call him-" Josh started before she interrupted.

"He's my _cousin_," Mindy responded pointedly and that caused him to shut up. Silence hung between them before he could look at her again.

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah. I'm not dating anyone," she explained. "He just moved here from St. Louis and I've been showing him around."

Another silence and then Josh was walking down the steps toward the couch with Mindy close behind. "Why didn't you tell me that?" Despite whatever weird, new feelings he was getting for her as of late, they were supposed to be friends now. Didn't that count for something?

"I tried! You never gave me a chance!"

"So tonight, you were just messing with my head?"

"I think you deserved it after the way you screamed at me."

They stood in front of the dilapidated sofa, with Josh near one of end of it and Mindy at the other. He recognized the look in her face where irritation was turning into the slow burn of anger, but it didn't make him feel any superior; just more annoyed.

"I still think that was a really obnoxious thing for you to do," Josh countered, taking a few steps closer to her. They were trapped in a stupid fight, each one trying to top the other; he was beginning to remember those old fights they used to have and how they used to end.

"I think you acted _way_ more obnoxious," Mindy told him, eyebrows knitting together as she took a couple steps so that they're closer now. Not as close as he wanted to be, Josh realized, and words are pouring out of him faster than he can comprehend.

"Well, I'm just glad we're broken up!"

"Not as glad as I am!"

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

Mindy's hand on his neck was his first clue that he'd gone through with it and was kissing her instead of just thinking about it. It was a fast and furious kiss with her hand grabbing at his forearm while her other hand flattened his collar against his neck before trailing down his chest. The word _desperate_ flashed through his mind, along with the realization that kissing Mindy had never been like this before, like a knot of tingles that exploded through his spine.

Josh pulled away first, needing air as he looked into her eyes. "We're still broken up, right?"

"Definitely."

He leaned back in again, almost half-expecting her to shove him away. He was surprised when she met him halfway and that it's _her_ arm that lopes around his neck and pulls him in; Josh reciprocated by pulling her hips to his and then his hand trailed to the small of her back, which was curved as her body was now flush with his own. He felt a bit skittish putting his hand there, like this was somehow wrong, but she was trying to coax his lips with the tip of her tongue until he finally groaned and gave in. God, where had she learned _that_?

Mindy was pulling him by his shoulders and Josh instinctively threw his hand out to brace himself on the armrest as her back met the sofa cushions. He didn't want to fall on her, but nearly lost balance when Mindy's hands grabbed for the sides of his face and their lips crushed together again, mind numbingly so. He started to get more sure of himself as he slowly ran his hand up the side of her body before cupping it behind her neck, his thumb grazing her earlobe before his hand was buried in her long, brown hair. This feeling of recklessness was coursing through him and for once, he didn't feel guilty or bad about it. He had a history with Mindy, something that felt comfortable, but new too as they were relearning each other's bodies and his confidence grew while his mouth traveled down to the curve of her neck where her necklace pressed coolly against his jaw. There was a kiss against the delicate skin, a sigh, and he kept moving. The tip of his nose felt out the edge of the crease in the collar of her oxford shirt that had been unbuttoned a little and that's when he'd felt her tense up.

"You okay?" Josh asked, looking up to see a flash of fear? panic? something in her eyes before she looked at him.

"I can't."

"You can't what?"

Before she could answer, her phone went off and he thought that maybe he saw relief flush over her skin. Mindy dug into her pocket and answered the phone as Josh crawled off of her so that he was sitting at the other end of the sofa.

"Hello? ...hey Mom. ...No, sorry, I didn't...yeah, okay. See you soon." She turned her phone off and stuck it back in her pocket while keeping an even gaze toward her feet. "I have to go."

"Okay."

She swung her legs around and left him alone in the room, out of breath and confused.

--

Mindy didn't do a lot of stupid things in her life, but when she messed up, it seemed like her motto was 'go big or go home'.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered, crossing her arms as she walked down the path that led down the hill from where Drake and Josh's house sat. She'd just called Chad to come pick her up, but all she could focus on was getting to the bottom of the hill.

Why had she done _that_? It's not even why she went over there in the first place; Josh had surprised her out of nowhere and she...well, she just kept it going, kept falling into his kisses like he was still hers and not like anything had changed between them. Kissing Josh had been comfortable in a way. It was familiar to her and maybe that's why she kept going because at least for her, Josh would always be safe. Josh would always be the first boy she thought she loved and that wasn't something she was willing to give up so quickly. But he'd gotten bold, slowly inched his way over her body, and she'd been okay with that. The problem was she'd opened her eyes and saw Drake's side of the room with his stupid loft and his stupid guitar and she realized how stupid _she_ was being. How ridiculous she was being for leading on Josh when her own feelings were so muddled half the time because of his charming brother.

Even though Mindy had at one time thought she loved safe, loving, loyal Josh, she could say with certainty now that she _actually_ loved charming, stubborn, annoying Drake. Stupid, right?

A blue Prius pulled up next to her while she was still deep in thought and Mindy recognized the driver before climbing in and slamming the door shut beside her.

"Where to, Miss?" Chad said, smiling at his own joke.

"I have a secret boyfriend that I'm in love with who isn't really my boyfriend anymore and I accidentally made out with my ex-boyfriend and they're kind of brothers," Mindy spilled out in one breath. Chad looked at her before blinking, like he was trying to absorb all the information.

"So, we should probably take the long way home?"

"Please."

--

**Half an hour later**

Drake sauntered into the bedroom, whistling an old Zero Gravity tune when he found Josh sitting near the end of the couch.

"Hey brotha. What's up?"

Josh didn't answer and Drake jumped down from the platform to behind the couch; he put his hand on Josh's shoulders and almost jumped back himself when he saw how startled his brother was. "Dude, what is up?"

"Drake...sorry, I didn't hear you come in," Josh answered, craning his neck to look up.

"Are you okay? You sound kind of weird." Drake walked over to the mini-fridge and grabbed two sodas; one of which he threw to Josh, who fortunately caught it.

"Fine, fine," Josh said, a little half-heartedly. "We need to talk about something."

"Josh, I don't know who used the last of your fabric softener," Drake told him as he sat down on the other end of the sofa while popping the top of his Mocha Cola. He remembered the last "serious" talk he had with Josh and man, there was something not right about the way his brother worried about laundry. "I bet Megan's just using it to mess with you."

"This is not about laundry, although I will say that fabric softener is a happy addition to any load that goes into that washer," Josh replied while Drake rolled his eyes as he took a long sip from his can. He set the cold can down on the coffee table before Josh continued. "I kissed Mindy."

"You what?" Drake asked, glad that he'd already swallowed the soda.

"I kind of blew up at her and Chad at the Premiere and she came over and I don't know dude, one thing lead to another and we were kissing," Josh said, rushing most of it in one breath. Drake didn't know how to respond, how to think, how to react; his stomach felt like it had dropped to his knees and he was really grateful that they were sitting down. He concentrated on letting Josh tell his story, but his head was swimming, brimming with all kinds of things he wanted to say.

"I know that when it comes to girls you like to 'cut and run'," Josh continued. "But Drake...it's _Mindy_, you know?" Drake didn't (couldn't) say anything and Josh peered at him like he was noticing how tortured his brother was feeling. "Are you okay? I mean, I know Mindy's not your favorite person, but can't you guys _try_ to be friends? What if Mindy and I get back together?"

Oh god, oh god, oh god, he can't believe he's hearing the words come out of Josh's mouth. He put his hands over his face and dragged them down over his cheeks, but no, this nightmare was still here in living color. Josh is looking at him, half concerned, and he really wants to punch the look off his face but hasn't he done enough to the poor guy already?

"Are you and Mindy getting back together?" Drake asked and he doesn't know how the words are coming out at this point. "Didja even talk about it? Did she say something?"

"Well, no," Josh admitted. "We got interrupted when her mom called and then she ran out of here. But I'm not dating anyone right now and neither is she. Who knows?"

"She said that? Mindy, Mindy said that she wasn't dating anyone?" Drake asked and he's trying to keep the hysteria from escaping. But his voice broke at the end like he's thirteen again and Josh tilted his head. "What about that Chris or Kramer guy or whatever?"

"Chad," Josh corrected. "Apparently, he's just her cousin and he's new in town." He looked down at the edge of the sofa and rose an eyebrow. "Is there a reason you're white-knuckling the couch cushion?" Drake looked down too and released his hand, unaware he'd been grabbing the cushion at all. Relief spread through his fingers as he flexed his hand and he couldn't sit down anymore, he had to pace.

"Drake, what is your deal? I thought you told me that I should date whoever I wanted and that it didn't matter what anybody else thinks. That applies to Mindy too!"

"I know! Believe me, I know."

"So why are you getting all bent out of shape?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Drake deadpanned, stopping behind the sofa again.

"Try me," Josh said evenly before he took a swig of his own soda.

"Mindy and I dated for about seven months." Even after the words leave his mouth, he still doesn't feel like he really said anything. But he can't focus on that now because Josh's eyes went wide and he started choking on his soda and Drake is right there, slapping his back until Josh can breathe regularly again. But instead of breathing, Drake hears a noise and it sounds like...laughter?

"Are you okay?" Drake asked, genuinely concerned that he'd caused his brother even more harm. But Josh couldn't answer; he was too busy laughing and covering his mouth, trying to make sure no soda spilled out. "Josh?"

"Yeah! Man, I'm....oh man, I'm okay," Josh responded through even more laughter before he was able to calm down. "Drake, I think that was the last thing I expected. Now come on, seriously; what's wrong?"

"I _am_ serious," Drake replied and he could feel his whole body relaxing, like this lie had been a giant weight that refused to budge. The more he relaxed, he could feel the truth spilling out of him like a river rushing into the ocean.

"Wait...what? You and Mindy?" Josh screwed up his face like he was still processing the fact that this wasn't a joke. "What do you mean?"

"For the last seven months, Mindy and I have been dating. Without telling you," Drake added and he winced at the way it sounded, but it was the truth. "We broke up because I couldn't keep lying to you anymore."

"This is ridiculous! You and Mindy _hate_ each other!"

"Yeah, not so much."

Josh was still sitting on the couch and Drake was all but hiding behind it, continuing to pace the floorboards. He was bracing himself for Josh to flip out or yell or _something_; it was taking him forever to grasp the concept. To be honest, he really wanted Josh to punch him or give him another black eye. Just get the physical pain over with so he could begin to feel like Josh would be able to forgive him.

"I don't believe you," Josh said, finally interrupting the silence between them.

"You don't believe me?"

"No, I don't. I think that Megan is hiding somewhere and you guys are playing a really mean joke," Josh told him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Come on out Megan, game's over!"

Drake walked around to the front of the couch, but didn't sit down. Instead, he made eye contact with Josh before he continued. "Josh, this isn't a joke. Megan isn't hiding anywhere and I'm telling you the truth." Josh blinked, but his face remained emotionless. "I am so sorry Josh."

Drake stood there, waiting. Waiting for a yell, a scream, a punch. But Josh looked so shell shocked and was so silent that Drake couldn't take it anymore; he grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the armchair and made a beeline toward the door, eager to escape the mess of his life.

--

The wind had a little bite to it as Drake hopped the fence to get into Mindy's backyard. He pulled his jacket close to his body and rubbed his hands together while reaching the house and looking up at the familiar window. Before he could lose his nerve, he started using the trellis to climb up the side of the house. Drake balanced precariously on the wooden lattice and prayed he wouldn't fall; at least this time, Josh wasn't here to fall on him. He pushed that thought out of his head as he tapped on the window and saw Mindy walk toward him, surprise on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Tap dancing," Drake replied sarcastically when she'd gotten the window open. "You mind giving me a hand?"

"Applause or help?"

"What?"

"Never mind," Mindy said, grabbing his arm as he hoisted himself onto her windowsill. He gracelessly slid into her room and she instinctively stood back, watching as he fell with a loud thump on the carpeted floor.

"Ow." He rubbed his elbow before getting up and she rolled her eyes, figuring he deserved it.

"You know, the last boy to come to my window was Josh." She's not really sure why she mentioned it, but she doesn't expect the smirk that played at his lips.

"Who do you think told him it was such a great idea?" Drake said, giving her a knowing look. It made her a little uncomfortable to realize that one of Josh's most romantic moments ever was orchestrated by Drake, but she tried to let that go and focus on the fact that Drake had just crawled into her room via window.

"What are you doing here?"

Her question was followed by silence and she crossed her arms while waiting, watching as he looked around the room before finding her eyes.

"Josh knows."

"Josh knows?"

"He knows."

"How? Why? What…?" She had waited so long for this moment, this finality of Josh knowing and now that it was here, she couldn't believe it. Mindy took a deep breath, her head racing with thoughts as she uncrossed her arms. "What happened?"

"You kissed Josh. _That's_ what happened," Drake told her, unsuccessfully hiding the bitterness in his voice.

"And, what, you came over to argue with me?" Mindy responded defensively.

"No, I came over to tell you that Josh knows, that's it," he told her. "But hey, while we're talking about it, I don't know how you can stand there and act like you did nothing wrong!"

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You kissed my brother, Mindy, okay? Your ex-boyfriend. How could you do that?"

"Why do you care anyway? I'm not going to fight about this if that's what you came over for."

"What were you trying to do, get me to notice? Because here I am Mindy, all yours," Drake said, walking closer and invading her space. As much as she wanted to turn away, she found herself stuck, her feet unwilling to move. He leaned in and she turned her head, trying to avoid his eyes. His voice lowered and she didn't expect the gravelly sound. "What did you want to do, a little compare and contrast?"

"Stop it." Her hand rose to push on his chest, but Drake wrapped his fingers around her wrist, around the bracelet and she felt the jewelry dig a little bit into her skin. "Drake. Let go."

He looked into her eyes and listened, dropping her hand after a moment or two. He didn't grab her hard enough to hurt, but she used her other hand anyway to rub at the skin under her bracelet. Mindy was at a loss for words, a loss for something to do because the moment she'd been waiting for for over seven months now was here and she can't think of another time where she'd been rendered speechless like this.

"I don't get it, Mindy," Drake said, breaking the silence. "I thought you wanted to be with me."

"I do," she answered honestly.

"Then why are you kissing Josh? Why are you showing up at places with your _cousin_ and letting people believe he's your boyfriend? Was that just to make me jealous?"

"Hold on. Everybody knew Chad was my cousin," Mindy corrected him. "You didn't know because you didn't bother to ask. Drake, you've been avoiding me like the plague since we broke up and if you don't find things out, well, tough. If you get jealous, that's not my fault either.

"And besides, don't think I didn't notice _you_ today with Samantha, parading her around the Premiere like she was some blonde trophy. You're not completely innocent either."

"I didn't say I was," Drake countered as he grabbed Mindy's desk chair and swung his leg around, straddling it so he was sitting on it backward. Mindy took the corner edge of her bed before he continued. "But we were broken up and even if Chad was your boyfriend and not your cousin and I _was_ jealous of him, I can respect the idea of a rebound."

"I can too, but you don't have to throw it in my face."

"So what was Josh? Did you just think that wouldn't get back to me?"

"I wasn't thinking!" Mindy exclaimed, frustrated. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that you feel threatened by me kissing Josh. But I didn't do it to hurt you, I did it because I missed you!"

"You kissed Josh because you missed _me_?" Drake asked incredulously. "Gee Mindy, you have a funny way of showing it."

"Wait, that came out weird," Mindy conceded before continuing. "Drake...I don't know about you, but us breaking up was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. I didn't mean to throw Chad in your face, but I needed him as a distraction to forget about you, especially after Josh's party." Drake nodded, remembering. "But Josh...well, _he_ kissed _me_, okay? And all that did was remind me of how much I missed you and how much Josh and I are over."

"Really? You and Josh are over?"

Mindy nodded.

"So...what do we do now?"


End file.
